CAT 2013 Myth Vs Reality

I have been getting a lot of queries from students about normalization and relative level of difficulty of CAT across slots. CL Academic Team has just released a Research Report on their findings of the CAT 2013 attempts data. I will advise you to read the same. But here are my specific answers:

Q. Is there a normalization post the CAT? – The short answer is NO.

Q. Is the CAT difficulty level random across the slots? – The short answer is NO.

I don’t know whether or not you will agree with these answers, however, logic and data analysis clearly reveals that my answers are in fact highly likely to be true. Here are the long answers:

CAT is ‘pre-normalized’

PROMETRIC: “LOFT carefully balances each candidate’s exam to ensure proper content coverage and overall difficulty, enabling reliable comparisons of performance from one candidate to another.”

Most of us have graduated from one CAT paper till 2008 to around forty CAT papers (one in each time slot) from 2009. However the reality is that students in the same slot also have different papers and Prometric administered around 1,75,000 different tests (Prometric uses the term Test Forms) using LOFT algorithm which more or less ensured that the difficulty level of the test is almost the same for any two test takers, leaving very little room for any normalization post the test.  In fact as per LOFT each candidate gets randomly presented with a pre-set equal number of questions from each difficulty level (Easy, Medium-Difficulty and Difficult) from their item bank.

Also, since there were 1,75,000 different tests, it will be almost impossible to do any find of ‘slot’ wise normalization post the CAT. In fact there is probably nothing called a slot, there are only Test Forms.

Data from CAT 2012 suggests that some kind of post exam normalisation is there but it is minimal. In CAT 2012 a large number of CL faculty members in different slots correctly answered only the 9 LR questions in VALR (and nothing else) and their score in this section was in the 79.11 to 79.99%ile range, a difference of only 1 mark in the scaled score.

Breaking the Myth –

Myth:        CAT is tougher in certain slots

Reality:     CAT difficulty level is more or less the same for every test taker

I can claim this with complete confidence because of the analysis that CL has done.

More than 8,000 students admit card data and their attempts in the CL True Percentile Predictor have been analyzed by CL.  This is a statistically significant quantity of data and the results of our analysis confirms that CAT is a standardized test.

The main reason for the ‘noise’ – that CAT is easier on earlier dates – is because of the fact that students who scored well in the Mocks are taking the CAT early. Our data suggests that more ‘Mock toppers’ (better prepared students) are taking the test early and therefore, the ‘noise’ that CAT seems to be easier on earlier test dates. In reality, the CAT difficulty level is almost the same! It is profile of students which is impacting the attempts and therefore the ‘noise’.

The average attempt in CAT was around 37-38 across slots. The movement of the average attempts has the same trend as the percentage of ‘Mock toppers’ among the test takers.  I will seriously doubt if even Prometric can create this kind of insight that CL has generated.

Bottom-line, CAT is not a random test and therefore yes, CL can almost accurately ‘predict’ the outcome of the CAT based on statistical analysis. One word of caution – the accuracy of the prediction depends on the accuracy of your estimated correct responses. 

Be that as it may, let’s look forward. Whatever happened in the CAT, happened – the key is to take informed next steps. The True Percentile Predictor will go a long way in helping you on the same. If you have not yet used the CAT Percentile Predictor, please use it.  The real benefit in using the tool is that it gives you insights into things beyond the CAT – the B-schools that match your profile.

Research Report

626 Comments

  1. sir, 10th- 66%
    12th- 60%
    2 yrs gap after 12th,
    b.tech-65%
    if i could score 99+ in cat,is there any chance in getting to top b-school

    • Adhi, you can check your chances for top IIMs by using this tool IIM Profilizer . There are bleak chances for IIMs, even if you score very high percentile. You can still hope for non-IIMs like FMS, JBIMS, XLRI as academic scores are less considered in these institutes.

  2. @Man$, unfortunately the top IIMs are unlikely due to your marks in X, XII and Graduation but most of the other institutes including XLRI, SP Jain, FMS etc are not a problem.

  3. Preparing for CAT 16

    Xth 73%
    XIIth 54.9%
    Grad 53.85%
    Age – 30 yrs. 6 months
    W. Exp > 8 yrs.
    What are my chances of getting into top B Schools?

  4. Xth 87%
    XIIth 88.4%
    Graduation 55%

    Gap of two years without any job experience but have some certificates in sports and cultural area at XIIth level. Also i am leading a network of some people under network marketing business. I can score well in CAT but can i get admission in FMS OR any other IIM with these academics ? I am in her big doubt please clarify this doubt sir. Please reply.

  5. Sir I hv 83.6 in 10th 82.4 in 12th and 79.7 in b.tech.in last semester I did not score well so my aggregate went below 80.do I hv any chance in iim a,b,c??

  6. Sir academic records are as follow-
    Xth- 68 %
    Xll th- 55
    B.tech – 8.1 cgpa (extended)
    Experience -zero
    With these type of poor academic record do i have any chance to crack in good mba college such as JBIMS

    • Vyas, with the exception of IIM B & C most of the other IIMs, JBIMS, FMS and other top B schools are possible. Focus on your CAT preparation and ensure a good CAT score, your acads and lack of work experience will not matter.

  7. sir
    my profile is
    x 60%
    xii 56%
    grad non eng 69.25%
    how many % would i need to score in cat so that i’ll got iim rohatak or iim kashipur
    and what is the procedure of selection
    plez sir reply

    • Sumit, some of the IIMs may not be possible for you because of poor academic performance in school & college and you should target at least 98%ile for a call from the new IIMs.

  8. I scored 74. 43 percentile in cat 2014, with 65.32 in quant {score 40.08} and 82.08 in verbal {score 56.64}..overall score is 95.04..can I get admission anywhere in sm premium institution?? I m in general category.. Yes I know it’s hard with this score… But please recommend me smthng good.. Except retake in cat.. I hv 85 in X nd 55 in XII, 70 in degree Engg. And having 6 mnths work experience at two companies.. One being Siemens Ltd.. {total 1 yr}… Please suggest me best option.. Is it good to go for ISM DHANBAD/IIFM/NPTI/SOM-PDPU/KIRLOSKAR KIAMS/… ANY MORE IF U CAN ADD.. PLEASE…. CL also recommended EDI… Can I really get sm where?? Pls suggest me d best… Thanks a lottttt in advance

    • Confused guy, unfortunately calls are not possible in any decent institute at your score. Suggest that you pick up a job and go for a retake.

  9. SIR
    I am a CL student enrolled in PIN weekend program for 2015 attempt
    my academics are
    10th 83%
    12th 75%
    Grad 57% till 5th sem of btech
    Sir i can atmax score 62-65 in grad till final year
    What should be my percentile ‘s that might suffice for the calls from IIM’s n FMS??
    I am willing to develop myself for CAT more n more coz sir i wont be able to change the past academic score but surely for CAT.

    • Akshay, for an interview call, a general category candidate needs:
      1. over 99.5%ile in CAT from IIM A, B & C
      2. over 99%ile for other old IIMs, FMS, IIT Mumbai
      3. over 97.5%ile for new IIMs, MDI, NITIE, other IITs, XLRI (XAT score)
      Due to your graduation marks IIM B could be difficult but all other IIMs are not a problem.

        • Akshay, I am sorry I made a calculation mistake, you will not be eligible for IIMA.
          IIMA has this year relaxed its academic profile criteria and a general category candidate needs an academic rating (AR) score of 15.5
          In your case the 57% in graduation is the problem but if you can pull your marks to between 60-65% then IIMA will be possible.
          AR score with less than 60% in graduation = 0.5(7) + 1.5(4) + 2.5(2) = 14.5
          AR score with between 60-65% in graduation = 0.5(7) + 1.5(4) + 2.5(3) = 17.0
          Please click here for the IIMA admission policy for 2015-17 batch.

    • Arya, 85%ile is sufficient for BIM Trichy but suggest that you target 90%ile as it will open up other good institutes. NIT Trichy will be possible at 80%ile also.

  11. sir my profile
    X:92%
    XII:87%
    grad:7.8
    general…..male
    no work exp..
    wht will b d percentile reqd in cat for
    iim a,b,c,k,i,l or fms,iitb,sp jain?

    • Sayan, with a good academic record calls are possible from all IIMs. You should target a score of over 99.5%ile for IIM A,B and C. FMS and IIT Mumbai require over 99%ile and SP Jain/MDI/NITIE are all possible at 97%ile.

    • my 10 % = 83% icse
      12 % = 86 % state
      grad b tech 75 %
      gm
      how much percentile do i need to get calls frm top b school?

      • anonymos, for IIM A and B you will need almost a 100%ile to get a call but IIM C is possible at 99.7%ile. The other IIMs are all possible at CAT score of 99-99%ile. Most of the top non-IIMs are possible at a CAT score of 97%ile but IIT Mumbai and FMS require over 99%ile.

  12. Sir,
    with the underlying profile, what are my chances with IIM’s, IIT’s other good schools. Aiming CAT’15.
    PROFILE:
    10th:83
    12th:84
    B.Tech:8.8(approx. 81%)
    Category: General

    • Prashant, with more than 80% in X, XII & Graduation you have a very good chance of getting calls from all IIMs. Most of the other B schools do not consider past academics for interview shortlisting but your academic record will be helpful in the interviews.

  13. Sir, i have got 92 % marks in Xth and 88% marks in 12th and my graduation btech cgpa is 8.4 (84% ) . What should be the cut off i
    should aim for getting a call from IIM (A,B,C,L,K).

    • Prashant, For IIM B and C you will need a CAT score of over 99.5%ile and the others will need around 99%ile.

  14. Sir,
    My academic performances are:
    class X = 95.8%
    class XII = 95.25%
    GPA(B.Tech) = 9.26 (85%) up to last sem.

    I will be appearing fr CAT 2014. What %ile will ensure me a call from the old IIMs?

  15. Respected Sir,

    My Qualification details are
    Graduation (B.tech) (electrical engg) :- 64.9
    XII:-64.2
    X :- 74.6
    i have completed my B.tech in 2012 and i am having a work experience in a construction based industry (6 months approx.) and recently i left the job due to rugged life in the project.
    sir now i am planning to appear in cat 2014 exams. but it seems that i am very late for preparation for the same as i hadn’t appeared in the cat exams held before.
    sir I am having following queries
    Q1) which is better option for me :- crash course coaching for cat 2014 or long term course coaching for cat 2015, considering the fact that if i select long term course the gap will be of almost 3 years?

    Q2). what is the minimum time (though varies from person to person ) required for preparation so as to get a decent score in cat 2014?

    Q3) is distance learning really helpful ? although the booklets (distance learning) contains quality theories but does not include shortcuts which are taught in coaching institutes.

    waiting for your reply eagerly

    • Vishu, while you are late you still have sufficient time to prepare for CAT’14 especially because you are not working or in college have can devote the full day for preparation. If you are will to put in 6-8 hours daily then CAT’14 will not be a problem. While CAT’15 appears to be a more comfortable option it will lead to a dely of a year. My advice is to target CAT’14.
      A classroom program is helpful if you need the discipline of regular classes and also need a faculty to clear your doubts but if you are self driven and do not need regular faculty support then distance learning program is a better option as it will allow you to pace your preparation as per your requirements.
      The distance learning program that you can consider enrolling for is Smart CAT Cracker Comprehensive that includes Test Series, Test Gym and topic wise online sessions to take care of the issue of short-cuts.
      Let me know the city you are from and I’ll connect you to the someone whom you can meet and work out a plan.

    • Ankit, IIM A and B are unlikely due to 55% in graduation but most of the others are possible. Most of the top non-IIMs have a low/no weight for past academics and hence are all possible.

  17. 10th=94
    12th=78
    btech 8.0+
    how much percentile do i hv to score in order to get A,B,C
    gen engg girl

        • Sir how could that be so? AFAIK, there is female gender quota and hence lower cut-offs for girls atleast in IIMC?

          • Chayan, IIMC has a 77% weight for CAT score hence it has a higher cutoff than the other two. Also with 78% in XII she is not in the top academic bracket.
            For IIM A, 78% in XII and CGPA of 8 means that she will need to have a higher CAT score. Lack of work experience pulls her down in IIM B.

            PS: what does AFAIK stand for?

  18. Sir i am planning to give cat 2014,I am from B.I.T.Mesra going to 4th yr CSE branch.10th= 91% 12th= 82% and since bit mesra student dont get high marks in their graduation so i think with all my efforts i can only make it to 7.0 + cgpa till my 7th or 8th sem .
    I am preparing by my self and i am giving mock tests regularly..i am GEM(gen engg male)..If i want to make into an old iim..what %ile do i need??
    since my home is far from any coaching inst. so m preparing by my self..any suggestions which can enhance my CAT 2014 preprtn ??

    • Amit, with good marks in X/XII IIM C should not be a problem but for a general category candidate it requires over 99.5%ile. With a CGPA of 7+ in graduation, IIM A and B are ruled out unless you have almost a 100%ile score. All the other IIMs are all possible for you.
      You can visiting CL Ranchi in case you are interested in classroom programs, if not then consider joining Smart CAT Cracker the online MBA preparation program of CL.

      • To get 99.5+persentile,how many hrs i need to devote??
        i know first thing which might come in ur mind is that cat is irrespective of numbr of hrs devoted,but despite that give me an approx target hr..(this strategy works good for me).
        can u plz suggest any correspondnc course out of cl,ims,time and byju??

        • Amit, my estimate is that this will need about 3 hours on weekdays and about 8-10 hours on holidays.
          My suggestion is obviously CL and given your profile you should go for the online program of CL – Smart CAT Cracker Comprehensive, you can also go for the variant with books and study material.

          • Sir are the videos downloadable?? if not can i view the videos multiple time using my id ??
            is there a particular schedule for the session or will i get the whole 240 videos at a time and i have to go on my own speed?? i am thinking to go for the smart cat cracker..do reply

          • sumit, the videos are not downloadable but you are allowed multiple viewings. All the videos will be available to you simultaneously and while there is a suggested program schedule you can go at your own speed in the way you want.

  19. Sir, My profile summary
    X – 88.6%
    XII – 76.4%
    B.Tech. – 7.15 CGPA (roughly 67.5 %)
    Work ex. – total 2.6 yrs. ( In IT and govt. sec)
    Category – NC-OBC
    What CAT score i must obtain to get calls from top IIMs (A, B and C)?
    Is it true that IIM A and C does not entertain a student with les than 80% marks in 12th ??

    • Prince, IIM A and C will need over 99.7%ile, less than 80% in XII makes the task difficult but you are not eliminated, your CAT score requirement goes up.
      Due to your 2.6 year work experience you can expect a call from IIM B at a score of around 98-99%ile.

      • Sir, Thank you for the above information.. but when I see the criteria for IIM C calls.. they give a formula for GDPI calls as (A/B)*77/450+(C/5)*10+(D/5)*10 for male candidates.. according to which i fall under criteria C = 4 and D = 4. SO, and cutoff for 2013 call getters in OBC category was around 69. Acoording to which scaloed score i would be needing above around 270-280. Am i going on the right track with this calculation.
        Also, do IIM A and C have any criteria for 80% marks eligibility or less marks in 12th makes it difficult as one has to score very high percentile in CAT.
        And, sir 1 more thing.. I have attempted previous year’s CAT papers, my score was good in SEC – 1 , but i faced difficulties with SEC – 2. Is there any suggested right approach for this SEC. If yes, please giude me through this. Thanks.

        • Also sir, with this profile am i eligible for FMS, if yes.. what percentile i must score to get through?

          • Prince, FMS does not have weightage for X/XII/Graduation marks or for work experience. The interview calls are based on CAT score and over 85%ile can get you a call. However most of the OBC students who convert FMS have over 95%ile in CAT.

        • Prince, in my previous reply I missed the fact that you belong to NCOBC category, apologise for the same.
          As a NCOBC you can get calls from all IIMs at a CAT score of 94-95%ile but my suggestion is to target around 97% to be sure. Given your work experience IIMB is possible at a lower score also A scaled score of 270-280 is around 97-98%ile. In case you have less than 80% in X, XII, Graduation you need to have a higher CAT score for an interview call.
          Regarding Sec 2, will be writing shortly on how to tackle the section.

  20. Hello Sir,

    I have got 40% in graduation
    XAT 75 percentile and MAT 90%ile

    I have the option of converting IMT Nagpur but I am not sure if in future the 40% will create a problem during the time of degree or placements
    Can AICTE approved colleges take students with less than 50% graduation marks.?
    Please help me, I am really confused.

    • Sneha, AICTE approved college are free to fix their eligibility criteria.
      Your graduation marks will not be an issue if you do well in the MBA program.

    • Gokul, IIM A and B are unlikely due to your low CGPA in graduation but IIM C is not a problem since it does not consider graduation marks for interview short listing. All other IIMs are not a problem.

  22. Hello Sir,
    I have joined CL test series and my performance in these test series is not that exciting. I score around 92-93 ile in these tests which I definitely think will go down s the number of test takers increase. Sir, my 10th marks are 92% 12th is 63.2 % and graduation is 7.4. I am an NC OBC candidate. Sir, I’m a bit concerned and depressed regarding my 12th score. I do think that even I give my best in CAT I don’t stand a chance of securing calls from top IIMs. According to you, do I stand a chance of getting a call considering that my score in CAT is above 95?

    • Gaurav, as a NCOBC candidate with decent academics you have a chance of making it to the top IIMs. Target a CAT score of over 97%ile and most probably your marks will not be an issue.

  23. Sir,
    I have heard that among top IIMs, IIM-A and B give a huge weightage to academic scores and graduation marks while giving a call. But, what do IIMs C and L do? My class 10 marks was 78% and class-12 was 82%. My graduation marks is 80%. Do I stand some chance in any of the top IIMs? I am not eager to consider any IIM lower than IIM-L because of fear of brand issues.

    • Arijit, in case of IIM A and B your academic performance are almost an eliminator but in all other IIMs your past academic record has a 5% to 20% weight and a good CAT performance can cover up for a not so good academic record.
      Your X, XII and graduation marks are good and calls from IIM A, B, C and L are possible.

      • SIR MY
        10TH MARKS= 79.2%
        12TH MARKS=87.2%
        B.COM(h) MARKS=64.2%
        COMPANY Secretary (FINAL) 2MODULES OUT OF 4 MODULES ARE CLEARED=55%
        14 MONTH WORK EXPERIENCE IN STOCK MARKET FIELD (RESEARCH ANALYST)
        HOW MUCH %TILE IS NEEDED FOR CALL FROM IIM A,B,C? PLEASE HELP

        • Mohit, a general category candidate typically requires a CAT score of over 99.5%ile for IIMC. IIM A and B will be possible at 99%ile due to your work experience (IIMB) and your graduation in B.Com (IIMA).

          • Mohit, most of the IIMs give credit for professional courses (CA and CS) and hence CS will give you an advantage. However calls from IIM are unlikely for a general category candidate below 97%ile.

  24. Hi Sir,

    COuld you please tell me priority order for
    MDI PGP(IM),IIT kanpur,XIMB, IMT(PGDM).IMI (Delhi)

    Thanks

  25. Sir, i have
    10th – 95.1%
    12th- 96.6%
    currently pursuing b.tech 3rd year electrical engineering from IIT Roorkee with cgpa of 6.12 and i have a back log, but my analytical skills are good and iam sure i can score a 95% in cat. (I have taken several mock tests lately, so iam sure i can perform well), and iam an OBC-NC student. will there be a chance for me to join IIM kolkata or IIM KOZHIKODE.Please reply sir, iam in need of your advice. i heard iim kolkata does not consider graduation percentage, but only sees 10th and 12th, is it true,please reply on this fact also

    • Praveen, with excellent marks in X and XII most of the IIMs will not be a problem. IIM A and B are unlikely due to B.Tech CGPA of 6.12 but IIM C is not a problem because it does not consider graduation marks for shortlisting. Similarly other IIMs are all possible. As a NCOBC, 95%ile is usually sufficient foe calls from IIMs but you should target 97%ile to ensure a call from all IIMs.

  26. Sir,
    Today IIM-K results have come out and I have converted it. I also have converts from SPJIMR and NMIMS. I am confused about which institute to join. Would Mumbai be a special advantage for SPJIMR/NMIMS and should I favor these over IIM-K?

    • Nirmit, SP Jain and IIM K are at par but my preference is for IIMK since the strong IIM brand name will be an asset in your career. NMIMS is a level below the other two and should not be considered.

  27. Sir will a profile with
    CAT 88%
    Xth 92%
    XIIth 93.2%
    B.Tech 85%
    OBC(NC)
    fetch an admission into the new IIM’s.?
    if not what are the comparably good institutes likely for this profile?
    Thank You

    • kanna, all IIMs are possible with your excellent academic record. As aa NC OBC you should have over 95%ile in CAT to gt a call from all the IIMs.

      • Sir but if my cat %ile is 88.what are my chances with the newer iim’s? because i dont think i have a good %ile for the older ones.Since i hail from TN,i want to know if LIBA is gettable. thank you

        • kanna, at 88%ile new IIMs are possible but with sufficient time to CAT’14 you should look at 95%ile. The difference between 88%ile and 95%iile is about a couuple of questions. LIBA is possible but significantly lower ranked than the IIMs.

  28. Sir,
    I need to contact you in private regarding a highly urgent matter (choice of two highly esteemed Bschools to be precise). Kindly mention your contact number.

  29. Sir,
    with the underlying profile,what are my chances with IIM’s,IIT’s,LIBA,GL,NITIE,other good schools.
    PROFILE:
    10th:95%
    12th:90.6%
    B.E:88%
    CAT:91.xx%
    CAT:OBC-NC
    0 work experience

    • nivedh, as an OBC candidate with excellent academic record you will need around 95%ile in CAT’14 for a call from the top IIMs. GL, LIBA and other private MBA institutes do not have reservation hence in these you will be treated as a genera category candiadate.

  30. Hello Sir,
    I am preparing for CAT-2014 and very unfortunately, I fall in the GEM category (General+Engineer+Male) and that too from IT background. I have heard from some people that it is very tough to convert the big IIMs, XLRI etc even with high CAT/XAT percentiles with a IT background because they seem to think that IT jobs are mediocre skill jobs. This news is demotivating me as my Infy job is indeed not very high skilled as for people in consulting etc.
    Considering this problem, should I have some hope of converting IIM-A,B,C,L/XLRI/FMS etc or should I give up the hope of MBA from any of these top institutes? Also what would be a very good percentile for getting call and final convert in the big 4 IIMs as far as a GEM like me is concerned? Your reply eagerly awaited!

    • Ashish, while it is correct that the top IIMs and other institutes want to have a greater diversity in their student profiles the information that you have is incorrect. These are myths that many people float to justify their failure in the admission process. Please check the batch profile of the IIMs, XLRI and the other top MBA institutes and you will find that all of them have a significantly large fraction of the batch as GEMs.

  31. Respected Sir,
    I am waitlist number 3 at XIMB BM..There is a lot of confusion regarding the increase in batch size to 340 and random allocation of students to old and new campus.
    This year I had given interview for ISB YLP AND SP JAIN but did not convert them.My percentile in CAT was 91 and have a GMAT score 660.
    I am a fresher from St. Xavier’s Kolkata with X 92.5%, XII 91.5% and B.COM (H) 68% with CA final due in May 15
    Sir what would you advice me
    a) Not wait to give CAT again as it is unpredictable to an extent and join XIMB
    b) Give CAT again

    • Archisha, this has to be a personal call based on your conviction.
      You have a good academic record, are half way through your CA which will give you a career on its own. With 68% in graduation IIMA is unlikely and in case you go for a retake you have to target the IIMS, XLRI, FMS, JBIMS, MDI, IIFT and SP Jain all of which will need over 97%ile in CAT. NMIMS, SIBM Pune and SCMHRD can also be considered but they are only marginally ahead of XIMB. If you are reasonably sure of at least a 97%ile in CAT/XAT then complete your CA and go for a retake else join XIMB.

  32. Is there a chance to get a call from IIM A, B or C without having work ex? And which are the old IIMs apart from A, B, C?

    • Shiela, work experience is an important criteria for interview call only in case of IIM B and not A or B. Even in case of B a very high CAT score (in excess of 99.5%ile) coupled with over 80% in X, XII and graduation can get you an interview call. Apart from A, B and C, Lucknow is also considered old IIM.

  33. The full marks in cat is 450, who have got 100%le they have score around 390 or something. so for getting 95%le > you have to score around 370. But somewhere I read 120 marks will get you 99%le above and I cant get it the marking system. Which quest contain how much marks and all. Please kindly explain the marking system and how much score and how many questions in each section will get 95%le

    • swayam, these are scaled scores and not raw scores. All questions in CAT have equal marks, typically around 13-15 net correct answers in a section are sufficient to get a 95%ile in each section in CAT but in AT’13 this number went down to around 9-10.

  34. sir,
    i need your help. i have
    72%- X
    70%-XII
    68.88%- btech graduation(2013 passout)
    category – sc
    i don’t have work experience .
    am i able to get call from top iim colleges??
    please reply.

    • Manji, first thing that you need to do is to pick up a job as justifying a 2 year drop is difficult. You have an average academic record but if you get around 90%ile in CAT then calls from top IIMs are possible.

      • respected sir,
        my question is also on the same matter.
        My marks are
        10th – 78%
        12th – 68%
        B.Tech. – 84.6%(currently in 8th sem)
        one year gap after 12th
        I am from General category. What CAT %ile do I require to get a call from top IIMs. Please help.

        • Robin, for the top IIMs you will need almost 100%ile to get a call as you have less than 80% in X and XII. All other IIMs are possible at a score of 98%ile+

  35. Sir, i got 90.32ST category,ST category acads x-89.5,x11-87.5,btech-84.2 got calls from all the iims done with iim abcl interviews iim b interview lasted for 25 min more of opinion based,iim c and iiml lasted for 8min..iim a lasted for 15 min what are the chances of final selection

  37. Sir I have 86% in Xth and 75% in XIIth. But I got 49% in graduation( economics hons). I don’t know if I can do MBA. What should I do now sir. How to cover up for the poor marks in graduation? I need serious help. Please reply.

    • Saurabh, most of the institutes have a 50% in graduation as eligibility requirement for the 2 year MBA program hence if possible go for improvement in your graduation exam.

    • Sir currently i m doing btech mechanical second year..
      I am planning to prepare 2 yrs for cat simultaneously With my btech …..
      I assure the graduation % around 70% And i have got 80.2% in 10th and 78% in12h
      So how much i should score in cat2016 to get in top iims or other iims

      • Anand, while increasing your graduation score to 80% might be difficult it will be helpful if you can increase it to at least 75%. With your marks in XII and graduation IIM A and B will be possible only if you get 100%ile in CAT. IIMC typically requires over 99.5%ile and all other IIMs are possible at a score in excess of 98%ile

  38. Hello Sir,
    I have converted BIMTECH – Retail Mgmt. and IBS, Hyderabad – MBA (so i have Marketing option open). i have no other calls. I’m very interested in Marketing. Please advise me as to which college i should take up. Also, what kind of work do Retail Mgmt. alumni do and how different it is from the Marketing guys? Pl help. I’m very confused.

  39. I am in 2nd year of college(BTech). Will be giving CAT 15. Started preparing for it. Got 94% in 10th and 69% in 12th. Hoping to get something around 8 cgpa in BTech. If I score really really well in CAT, do I still have a chance to get a call from the old IIMs with my poor 12th scores, or am I scarred for life?

    • Trina, unfortunately with the current criteria 69% in XII reduces your chances of call significantly from the top IIMs and you will need almost a 100%ile for a all from IIM A, B and C. All other IIMs, XLRI, FMS, IITs and NITIE are however not a problem at all.

  40. Hi all..
    i am new to this, so i thought it would be better if i confirm something first
    i don’t have a fancy academic record ..81 % in 10th and 64.. yes 64 in 12th..70% in b.tech….now in case i prepare for cat and end up with decent score ,also including a 2 year experience as officer in bank…do i have any chance in IIM or other top colleges ..
    P.S – is this true that no matter what my percentile and experience is ,if i have a low score in 12th i must not xpect a call from such colleges

    • Nitish, with less than 80% in XII and graduation IIM A and C are unlikely unless you score 100%ile in CAT. Due to your 2 year work experience IIM B is possible even at 95%ile. All other IIMs are possible at 98%ile.

  41. Dear Sir
    I require your guidance.
    Profile summry
    SSC – 92%
    HSC – 89.4%
    Grad. – 71.05% ( B.E – mechanical )
    passout yr – 2011
    Category – General

    Work Ex – 2.5 yrs with L&T ( Package – 6lac/annum )

    CAT score – 86.95 ( QA – 77.5, VA – 89.9 )

    Based on this score i do not have many options left, so i tried to apply to BIMTECH ( noida ) & PDPU – Energy & infra management ( gandhinagar, http://www.spm.pdpu.ac.in ). Moreover ia m appearing for entrance test of Sree ram college of commerce’s GBO programme .

    I could not get any detailed review for any of the three colleges / programs mentioned above.

    Pl. guide which course of action should i take.

    • Sanjay, given your academic record, work experience and also your current salary I would not recommend any of these institutes. My recommendation is to go for a retake of CAT/XAT and also take GMAT so that you can try for 1 year MBA programs of ISB Hyderabad and other top institutes outside India.
      Do call me at 9811155160 in case you want to discuss this.

  42. Hello Sir,
    Since cat started from 16 Oct,I would not think 25 October to be a late slot.If you go by Pagal guy or a general consensus,you would find average attempt made in QA was 16-17(owing to the diffculty of questions).
    Similarly on the next day 26 Oct , average relatively went up to 20-22 in QA.
    How would you justify this?

    And just a humble suggestion.If you can release the list of IIM call getters of CL with their corresponding CAT-13 slot,it will be solid proof of above argument and an end to this never ending debate over normalization.

    Thanx
    Aviral Verma

  43. Sir, I’m preparing for cat2014. Given my academic records:
    10th: 91.5% or 9.6 cgpa
    12th(science): 82.4%
    bachelors(eco hons): 47% from sxc cal
    How much do i need to score in cat to get a call from the iims?
    Category:ST(female)

  44. hi GP sir
    my cat score is 90.66 (overall)
    Quant: 79.78
    Verbal: 93.67
    cat: NC OBC
    10: 84.6%
    12: 74.4%
    btech: 7.51 (67%)
    Work: 27 months

    Sir, from where can i expect calls?
    What are the institutes to which i can still apply, considering my score?
    Are there any IITs where i can apply with this score and chances of converting

    In need of your advice

  45. Sir lots of people are unhappy and shocked with their weird percentiles in CAT-2013 results and are filing RTI, writing to media houses and even contemplating of stalling the entire WAT-PI process of IIMs by approaching high court. I once entered a forum of these dissatisfied people and I am constantly receiving their updates and it seems they are really being aggressive this time.
    I have got calls from all IIMs except C (with an overall percentile of 99.5 and good sectionals). I am preparing hard for PDP but these threats of people wanting to stall the whole process are kind of making me feel tensed and disrupting my preparation. Should there be any serious technical errors by Prometric, is it likely that we, the ones who have been gracefully selected by the IIMs for the next stage might be rejected or something? Kindly reply sir.Can you give a full assurance that we, the ones who have been selected will not be seriously affected by this commotion and uproar by dissatisfied candidates?

    • Janardhan, last year a similar thing happened in XAt wherein due to an error there was rechecking and percentile scores of all students changed. However calls were not withdrawn from the students who had initially been given calls by XLRI. Additional calls were given to the now eligible candidates.

  46. Dear Team CL,
    I saw some of the discussions about the weird VA section scores in this page. Do you people inspite of seeing all these cases still honestly feel that this entire scheme of evaluating CAT-2013 did not have any kind of technical glitch as a result of which some software error might have crept in while calculating results? I have a 90 percentile in QA DI section but only 18.04 in VA and this is the first time in my life that something so weird has happened. You cannot simply sit idle and let such software errors go unnoticed and ruin people’s lives and that too in an entrance examination to top management institutes of the country.

  47. Okay IIMs…If that is so then please explain this..

    We all know now that VA-0 QA-0 is equivalent to 55%ile in CAT 2013…

    A guy I know has scored
    Sec-1 – 91%ile (Say a raw score > 30) ; Sec2 – 0.57%ile(Raw score of -15 or -20) and OA – 33%ile
    So with a OA raw score of say 10-15 you will get 33%ile???

    There is something wrong and we all know it!!

    This is how Normalization works :
    We have guy-1 who had prepared nothing in QA but Functions,Algebra and Geometry, he went to take CAT. 12 questions were from these topics. He attempted these 12 questions and 9 DI questions.
    Now we have guy-2 who had prepared all but left Geometry,Logarithms and Functions, he went to take CAT. 11 questions were from these three topics, other 3-4 questions were tough. He left them. He could just attempt 9 Di questions+6 Quant Questions.
    Final score in Quant.
    Guy-1 : 99.xx
    Guy-2 : 87.xx
    And they say normalization will take care . :-/

  48. Sir,
    My CAT score is as follows:

    Overall: 94.93%ile
    QA & DI: 87.27%ile
    VA & LR: 96.32%ile

    Class X- 88.6%
    Class XII- 89.5%
    Graduation- 68.5%

    Which are the institutes from where I can expect a call?
    I am a fresher and belong to the General category.What are my chances of getting a call from IMT Ghaziabad and IMI(D)?
    I have already recieved a call from IIM Shillong..Should I go for it?
    Regerds

  49. QA/DI: 39.97
    VA/LR: 66.28
    Overall: 53.88
    I attempted 17 questions in QA/DI in which I can recall as many as 12 questions correct with 100% accuracy.
    In VA/LR, I attempted 23 questions, out of which I am sure about the 10 questions of LR that were correct, they were very easy. In VA, I am sure about 7 questions that were correct.
    How can my percentile be so low?
    I gave my CAT exam on Oct 29 Morning.
    Please justify what kind of normalization has been carried out.
    Also, with the CL percentile predictor, my overall percentile was around 96.xx :/

  50. Sir does the system of normalization of CAT 2013 deduct more marks and give high penalty for low accuracy? Considering a zero score is still a 100% accuracy,could it be that people with a positive unscaled score and still an accuracy of less than 50% (like say, 9 correct, 15 wrong,which is a very bad accuracy) would be given lower percentile than 55 because there is huge penalty for accuracy? but sir, you had mentioned earlier somewhere that accuracy does not matter and it is just the final score which is taken into account during normalization regardless of number of correct and incorrect attempts?

      • Sir but this year it does not seem people with same raw scores have got same percentiles. People have got as low as 20 percentile in one section and it cannot be that so many people have scored negative marks when atleast 6-7 LR questions are right for them.It can only happen when there is penalty for a bad accuracy.

  51. Sir, i was part of CL prep class room. but this year i only manage 90%ile in cat. i have work exp of 3yrs 4 months. is it too late to give CAT . or should i go for another attempt.
    I am not able to decide whether to take CAT or go for GMAT. As GMAT tends to be very costly. but its been 40 months of work exp.
    Also i am male IT engineer with average marks, so old IIM and FMS are out of reach.
    Thanks

  52. Hi sir,

    10th- 85.4
    12th-69
    graduation(B.Sc.Maths)-49.2 (2010-2013)

    Since i got only 49% i am appearing for an improvement exam.. which is taking place only this year. will this affect my admission to IIMs or any similar institutions if I appear for CAT2014?
    i am sure i will make it above 50% but i am scared if this will be taken as a year gap and i might be disqualified. Please help me sir!
    Thank you

  53. Sir
    My cat percentile is 79.74.
    10th 92.4%, 12th 92.2%, graduation (DU, Eco hons) 65%. I am from
    general category.

    I was considering applying to bimtech and imt nagpur. Which other colleges can I apply to? Someone suggested Tapmi, wellingkar,nirma and nibm.
    Please help me sir.
    Thank you

  54. sir I got 95.70 in cat
    quant – 94.84
    verbal – 91.62
    category – gen
    10th – 85
    12th- 88
    Btech- 75
    which colleges should i apply to?
    i have applied to imi,imt,mdi,mfc&mbe
    can i get call from iit’s(except delhi&mumbai)

  56. Sir will i get shortlisted for IIM Rohtak and Shillong at 88 percentile?? Its written 85 percentile for Rohtak,is it true??
    Eagerly awaiting reply!!!

  57. Hello Sir,

    My Score is as follows :
    QA – 69.46
    VA – 96.6

    OA – 90.32

    Academics :
    X – 91
    XII – 85
    Engg – 75
    Work ex – 12 months
    Category – GEN

    I want to know if I can get calls from IMI , IMT-G , MFC & MBE ??
    Also, I have not filled forms for any IITs as of yet, so is there any realistic chance of getting a call from any IIT ??
    And if yes, then which IITs ??

    Thanks a lot in advance 🙂

  58. Hi Sir, I scored 89.3 percentile in CAT. My X, XII and graduation score is 79.25,76.57and62.88. I completed CS in 2012.No work ex.So considering the gap which colleges should I look at where i have a fair chance of converting?I already applied for GIM and NIRMA.and listed out these colleges-Tapmi, BIM trichy, liba,nit trichy,IIM ranchi(pgdhrm),UBS,welingker, Great lakes,IIT kgp(mhrm). Sir please guide what ary my chances of getting a call.

  59. sir I got 95.13 in cat
    quant – 99.08
    verbal – 68.73
    category – obc
    10th – 91.83
    inter 90.2
    grad 70.8
    can i get calls from iims and iits???
    and i have aplied for fms nd nitie can i get those calls???

    • Bharat, you can be sure of getting the calls which you have mentioned. Not very sure about the older ones but the newer ones are surely on the card.

  60. Aakansha, your QA percentile may play spoilsport else you would have got some good calls. The application process for most of the good institutes is over now. But you can still apply to IMI and all the IITs.

  61. Hi Sir,
    My CAT 2013 percentile is as follows:
    QA-> 88.58
    VA-> 98.08
    OA-> 96.67

    Profile:
    10th: 90.6 (CBSE)
    12th: 90.0 (CBSE)
    Graduation: 72.89 (BE-IT, Pune University)
    Work Ex: 18 months as Software Engineer

    I have already applied to MDI, SPJIMR and IMT. Are there any other good colleges that I can apply to now, at this score ? Can I expect calls from any new IIMs ?

    • Ajay, check the general category cutoff for the new IIMs on the official website of IIM Trichy. It’s 96.82 percentile. The application process for most of the good institutes is over now. But you can still apply to IMI and the IITs.

      • Thanks for the inputs. I will apply to IIT-kgp and IIT-Madras. Should I apply to IIT-Delhi as well ? Will this score suffice for a call ?

  62. Sir,
    Cat Result-
    Overall 88.17
    QA- 85.06
    VA- 86.46

    Graduation : BBE Business Economics,DU 64%
    XII – 92.5 (Best 4) 91- Overall
    X – 82
    Can i expect a call from any IIM or IIT?? Are there any other good institutes that i should apply to? Also, i was the president of the music society of my college and have won prizes in various IIT’s and other institutes across India and been active in extra curricular activities, will this be a contributing factor for being shortlisted??

    • Nikita, calls from the IIMs is highly unlikely. The application process for most of the good institutes is over now. But you can still apply to IMI Delhi and all the IITs. IIT kharagpur gives profile based calls. Still your percentile may not suffice for the IITs.

    • Hi Sanchita

      At your percentile, calls from IIMs and IITs seem a bit difficult.There certain good colleges that you can apply to, like KJ Somaiya, IIT Madras and IIT Roorkee.
      Your extra-curricular activities play a part during the interviews but usually not while being shortlisted for interviews.

      • Thanku for Replying!
        Could you please tell me if i stand a chance at IIM Rohtak and Shillong? For IIM Rohtak they have mentioned 85 percentile.Also, after how many days can i epect a call from these institutes? And are there any other new IIMs where i stand a chance ( I am a NON ENGG, FEMALE STUDENT)

  63. From which b schools can i receive a call?
    Sir, I have scored 97.91%ile in CAT, with my QA- 84.28 and VA-99.56%ile.
    Class X-94%
    Class XII-89.8%
    Grad(b.tech) 2013 pass out-75.4%
    No work Experience.
    I have applied for nitie, fms, spjain, mbe/mfc, mib/mhrod, imt-g, ximb.
    Should I apply to IMI and which IIT’s should I apply to?
    Thanks in advance.

    • Hemant, you might just miss the call from FMS but can be sure of getting calls from all other institutes which you have mentioned. You can apply to IIt D and Kharagpur.

    • Hi

      You should apply to all the IITs for you have very realistic chance of getting calls from them. IIT-B’s cut-off for calls usually goes over 98 and might be a bit difficult, but you never know. The rest of the IITs should give you a call. And yes, you should apply to IMI.
      You should receive calls from the new IIMs, FMS, NITIE, SPJAIN as well as IMT-G amongst premier colleges.

  64. Sir,
    I am SC female student
    OA=71.02
    QA/DI=50.52
    VA/LR=83.28
    Xth=89.4
    XIIth=80
    B.Tech=80
    what chances do I have?? Please enlighten me. Can I get calls from IITs?

    • Dear Manvi,

      Even though having a good academic score, low percentile score in QA/DI makes it difficult for even SC female students to get calls from any of the IIMs and IITs.

  65. OA 80.28 percentile , category – general. sir, please suggest 4 – 5 decent colleges under this percentile.

  66. Hello sir
    CAT OA – 79.74%tile
    QA-73.33%tile
    VA- 81.49%tile

    12th- 85%
    10th-78%
    B.tech -78%
    category – GEN
    I have applied for NIRMA, GIM, WELINGKAR AND BIMTECH
    Any chances to get call from these institutes..

  67. Hello sir,
    I hav got 94.71 in cat
    qadi 88.58
    valr 95.38
    x th 90.8
    xii th 88
    btech 78.18(final yr)
    any chance for any of the IIT,mdi, or any other good collg.

    • Lakhan, with a 94.71%ile in cat, you might get calls from IIT K, IIT M, IIT Kgp, IIT R, MDI(PGPIM), DSE(DU), IMT Ghaziabad, IMI Delhi(PGDM), Nirma, MBA(DU), BIM Trichi.

  68. overall-95.13 qa-99.07 va-68.73 category – obc
    10th-91.83 12th-90.2 grad-70.8
    is there any chance for iims , iits , fms and nitie???

  69. Hello Sir
    CAT percentile – OA 93.78 QA – 93.18 VA – 89.14
    X – 86% XII – 88.4 %, General Category, Work-Ex(till 15 Jan, 2014) 1.5 years
    Do I have any chance of getting calls from new IIMs? Also please share last year’s cut-off for getting calls and converting calls for the new IIMs.
    Thanks

    • Amit, don’t except calls from the new IIMs. Please check the official website of IIM Trichy. They have updated the cut-offs for GD/PI call. It’s 96.82 percentile for General category.

  70. hello GP sir
    with 98.2 % which college to expect calls from
    X-90
    XII-85
    grads from commerce background-66.5
    i m from vinoba bhave university and the percentage here hardly goes above 75
    so is there anything i can do about it as some iims gives emphasis on academics
    also will commerce help me get calls or not for diversification in their group of students
    the last thing i need to know is you said in a post that iimA and iimB considers academic and profile for calls. How will they get to know about the profile.Is there anything else we need to submit apart from CAT registration form to get calls from IIMs

    • Chirag, you can expect calls from atleast a couple of new IIMs, NITIE and FMS (border-line case). You don’t need to submit anything else to let the IIMs know about your profile.

  71. Sir,
    My overall CAT percentile is 98.74.
    Sec 1:96.39
    Sec 2:98.23
    X : 82(wb board)
    XII : 83.5(ISC)
    GRAD: 76.5(Final Year,Electronics and instrumentation).
    I have niether applied to NITIE nor FMS.Which all colleges should i consider now?From which IIMs will I probably get a call except A,B,C. and how good are they(the new ones)?I also have snap percentile of 99.02.Kindly suggest me the colleges that I should apply apart from IIT-B.

  72. hello,
    QA & DI-78.76
    LR & ENGLISH-83.28
    TOTAL-83.35
    Category- General
    Applying for KJ somaiya, Welingkar, Great Lakes, Nirma, Tapmi, Mica
    From which of the above can I expect calls?
    And any more suggestions regarding which other colleges should I go for?

    • Sneha, you can expect calls from Nirma, Mica, Welingkar Mumbai. Calls from Great Lakes and Tapmi are also possible depending on the profile. You can also still apply for FMS BHU, IFMR and IIFM.

    • Sneha, you can expect a call form Welingkar. Great Lakes, KJ Somaiya, NIRMA and TAPMI can be on borderline. MICA is little difficult. you can consider FORE. IMI-HR, UBS and LBISM.

  73. Sir

    I have got
    OL- 94.48

    QA-94.98
    VA-87.88

    Graduate from SRCC- 83.5
    XII- 95.25
    X-96%

    Work ex- 17 months

    Is there any good college I can expect a call from?
    If yes, which all?
    Also, I haven’t filled any college forms yet as I dint expect this score
    What all forms might be available yet?

    Thanks in advance

    • Hi Tanvi

      Apart from IIT-B and IIT-D, you should fill the forms for the rest of the IITs. Other decent colleges which you can fill are KJ Sowmyaia and IMI.

  74. Sir,
    My cat percntile is 92.46
    section 1- 88.34
    section 2- 91.52
    class 12th- 88
    class 10th-90
    B.tech(till 7th sem)-77%
    category- OBC (NC)
    Female
    I have not applied for any colleges..
    from which colleges i can expect call and are dere any chances of any of IIMs?
    nw i cn apply for which other colleges?

    • Ankita, you have decent chances of getting calls from the new IIMs, FMS, NITIE and some of the IITs too, if only you have applied to them.

  75. Sir lots of people are reporting unexpectedly low percentiles in VA. My friend has got just 79 percentile in VA this year. His English cannot be this bad for sure, he 99.98 percentile last year in XAT. Why do you think this is happening?

    PS:I have got an unexpectedly low VA 75.78 too ,with a useless 99.77 in quant. This exam ruined my entire year sir and now almost none of the top colleges will give me a call because of VA percentile. Sir kindly try to find out what is going wrong with verbal for many of us. Could it be normalization? But you had predicted that normalization has minimum effect.

    • Marathwa, this year accuracy has played a MAJOR role. People who attempted very low number of questions with 100 percent accuracy have secured excellent scores.

      • Dear Team CL,
        Accuracy plays important role in any exam. But that is not the case with this CAT exam. There are some flaws in the system sir. ..I will tell you a typical case of one of my friends:She has attempted only 17 questions among them 9 lr and it is for certain that atleast those 9 LRs are all right.. so 27 marks for all right LR attempts and -8 for all the 8 incorrect answers in English,that should give a score of 27-8=19. But she has a percentile of 42.xx!! But 19 marks cannot lead to 42 percentile when a student with 0 gets 57 %ile. Sir kindly explain this. Please do justice sir and look into our problems. It is our career at stake sir. We will lose faith in the whole CAT system from next year if this continues and there will be fewer students appearing from now if due justice is not done.

  76. Sir,
    I have scored percentile as following –
    QADI = 62.5
    LRDI = 90.95
    OA = 82.37

    I belong to “SC category”

    I have applied for NITIE , FMS , MIB, MHROD , SP JAIN
    from which college I can expect

    • Kapil, you can expect to get calls from all these colleges (except SP Jain) as well as from the IIMs. Hope you have started your PDP classes.

        • Kapil, application window for IITs will open tomorrow for most of the IITs and are likely to close by 31st Jan. You will have to apply individually to each IIT, online form are available on the website of all IITs.

      • Sir, I have got 96.36 %ile in CAT’13 (75.36 QA),(99.46 Verbal), but as i was not expecting such a high percentileso i didnot filled any colleges yet apart from iim’s that i ticked in cat application? May i know which colleges can i apply now and which iim will i get a call for PI/GD???

        • Neelesh, you can expect calls from the new IIMs. You can also still apply for all the IITs. IMI Delhi, IIM Ranchi, IMT Ghaziabad.

          • May I know what is expected cutoff for iit delhi and iit bombay…?? also which of the new iim is better ????

          • Neelesh, Please refer to the blogpost Cutoffs of CAT allied institutes for the institutes where you can still apply and from where you can expect calls based on your CAT score.
            All new IIMs are good let us discuss their relative ranking after you get the final calls.

  77. QA – 70.77
    VA – 98.98
    OA – 94.48

    X – 82%
    XII – 87%

    B. Tech. – 60% + (Still pursuing)

    General category

    Should I expect any IIM calls? And which ones? Are there any other good colleges left with their deadlines for application, so that I can apply?

    Thank you.

  78. Sir I got a very good percentile in QA section (99.7 percentile) but my VA score totally screwed my whole result. I got 95.36%ile overall with just 74.5 percentile in VA/LR and a double digit score in this section!! I have got toally shocked. I was expecting a 100 marks more in VA than what I got and thats what the percentile predictor also showed.
    It has been observed that many other CAT aspirants are also likewise shocked with their low VA and QA scores which were way lower than expected. I guess so me error has been definitely made in the result and I wish to seek justice sir. Is it really possible to do something so that our exams can be re-evaluated? It is a matter of ruining careers of so many people sir. Kindly advice what we should do.

      • Sir you are saying ”’this year”. Does that mean accuracy did not play such a major role in the previous years? Do you mean to say that there might have been some change in the algorithm of Prometric of CAT-2013? If so, why are they atleast not telling that? Why not just clear the matter by speaking a few words rather than keeping us all in delirium and confusion? Why just not be a bit more transparent so that we can atleast realize where we went wrong?

        • Swaraj, unfortunately IIMs and Prometric have never shared sufficient information and hence one cannot can only make an educated guess.

  79. Sir,
    My CAT score is as follows:

    Overall: 94.93%ile
    QA & DI: 87.27%ile
    VA & LR: 96.32%ile

    Class X- 88.6%
    Class XII- 89.5%
    Graduation- 69.5%

    Which are the institutes from where I can expect a call?
    I am a fresher and belong to the General category.

    Regards

  80. CAT Overall : 98.70%ile
    QA : 93.96%ile
    VA : 99.10%ile
    Xth : 92.57%
    XIIth : 88.60%
    B.Tech : 74.30%
    2 years work-ex.

    From which IIMs can I expect the calls?

    Thanks.

  81. Sir, I had my CAT exam on 29/10/2013 (afternoon slot). I can vouch for the accuracy of my data input in the CL true percenitle predictor. It suggested that i might get a score in the range of 95-96 percentile, however as it turned out today, i got a paltry 75 (didn’t get such a low score even in a single mock test). I have a consistently good track record in my mock tests ( regularly in the 93+ region with a few scores of 99+). Is there any possibility of error in the published results? If yes, what should me course of my action?

  82. My CAT score is as follows,
    QA- 84.28
    VA- 99.56
    OA- 97.91
    class X -94%
    class XII-89.8%
    grad(b.tech.)-75.43%
    fresher 2013
    Have applied for nitie, imt, ximb, imi, mbe/mfc, mib/mhrod. From which colleges can I expect a call?
    Thanks in advance.

  83. Respected GP sir,
    My cat percentile is almost what was predicted by the CL percentile predictor,
    QA- 85.5
    LA- 67.7
    OA- 79.18
    10 th std – 95.6%
    12th std- 87.7 %
    Bcom – 71.1%(Avg of three years)

    I also have around 22 months of work ex which includes 12 months in Goldman Sachs and the rest in an e commerce start up, i belong to NCOBC category. I have been a regular participant in extra curriculars throughout school and college. Do i stand a GDPI call from the new IIMs?

  84. Sir,

    Please let me know, which calls I can expect

    OA:97.11
    QA:88.58
    VA:98.51

    Category: General
    10th: 93.33%
    12th: 92.6% (A.P board)
    B.Tech: 81.8%

    Work ex: 15 months

    Thanks!

    • Sindhu, you can expect calls from some IIMs, MDI and NITIE. IF you are interested in marketing then you should apply to MICA and if an engineer then to IIT Delhi and Kharagpur also.

  85. Hello sir
    Can i expect any IIM calls?

    OA: 83.35(207)
    VA:65.05(89)
    QA:91.38(118)

    Class X:78.2%
    ClassXII:72.8%
    Grad:CGPA 6.25/10 (B.E. Mechanical), in terms of %age my graduation %age is 58.5%
    Work Exp.:24 months(Power Sector)
    Category:SC
    i’m also worried about my %ile in VA section. I think it’s on the lower side.
    Please reply Sir, Thanks in advance

  87. Hi GP sir,

    I have got OA – 78 🙁
    Sec1 – 89.23
    Sec 2- 57 🙁
    Any chances…. i know chances are very thin. Just need your advise.

  88. Qa-94.3
    Va-95.3
    Overall – 96.8
    Male.
    General category.
    Engineeer(IT).
    No work exp.
    10- 83pr cent.
    12- 77.4..
    Grad – 72.2..
    Applied for-
    IMI, MFC/MBE(DU), Delhi school of economics(delhi), FORE(delhi) , LBSIM(delhi) , GIM (goa)

    What more colleges can I apply now?
    What colleges can I hope to be a part of?

  89. Hello
    Can i expect any IIM calls?

    OA: 91.29(227)
    VA:94.27(124)
    QA:80.74(103)

    Class X:93.0
    ClassXII:81.4
    Grad:80.4 (Arts and Humanities)
    Post Grad:81.3(Literature)
    Category:NC-OBC
    Gender:Female

    • Pamela, you may expect IIM-B call if you have decent extra curricular activities. C looks difficult. However, calls from new IIMs can be expected.

  90. sir my CAT percentile is 75.6 percentile
    i am a SC category student.
    i had applied for fms,nitie
    i know,no chances for it now.
    what colleges should i apply now?

  91. Sir,
    I got 91.88 percentile…
    quant 82.56
    verbal 94.27

    i have applied to kj somaiya, imt ghb, irma and ximb. to which other colleges i should apply to

    • forgot to mention about my academics.

      85.6% in 10th
      91.8% in 12th
      79.7% in bcom… ill be completing this year only…

      what are the chances for new iims

      • Sir,

        Can you please tell me that can i get call from new iims… and which other colleges i should apply… please reply

  92. Hi Sir,

    My CAT score is as follows,
    QA- 78.76
    VA- 98.23
    OA-94.71

    from which colleges can I expect a call . Is XIMB-BM/HR possible with my current CAT score.

    Thanks

  93. Over all 96.36
    Qa – 95.87
    VA – 92.08

    10th. 91%
    12TH 86.9
    Btech. 63.58

    Nc-obc category

    What calls can I expect sir?

  94. Sir, u people have predicted the percentile with some good accuracy got 90.32percentile overall.ST category what are my chances of getting abc calls?

  95. Sir, the results are out, and here is my score. Please suggest which colleges, if any, I can expect a call from:

    OA: 97.58
    QA DI: 86.55
    VA LR: 99.23
    10th std: 86.0 (CBSE)
    12th std: 77.3 (CBSE)
    BE: 8.53/10

  96. Hi Sir,

    Thanks for your guidance in CAT…
    QA-91.86
    VA-97.72
    Overall-97.23
    Category- General
    Academics-
    10th-84.20
    12th-56.60 Very bad 🙁
    Grads-60.16
    Work Ex- 13 Months
    which colleges call can i expect sir…
    thanks in advance

    • Arpan, you can expect calls from NITIE, MDI, IMT, IMI (if you have applied for it) and a couple of new IIMs too.

      • Hi team,
        Thanks for the feedback…
        I have not filled mdi and nitie but have filled imt and imi..
        Please also guide me about which IIT’s i can fill so that i can get the calls from them
        Is there any chance for SP JAIN…?

  97. Sir,
    QA 70.77%tile
    VA 50.51%tile
    TOTAL 60.89%tile
    I am NC-OBC candidate, 2013 (B.Tech) passout, no job.
    which college should I apply ?
    or I should look for a job and apply for CAT again ?

  98. Sir,
    Quant 98.49
    Verbal 63.81
    Overall 92.73
    NC-OBC, what calls can i expect and which all IIT’s n other b schools i should apply hereafter?
    does FMS,NITIE have sectional cutt offs ?

    • Karuna, NITIE has sectional cut-offs of 90 in both the sections and 97 overall. A call from NITIE is highly unlikely. FMS also considers sectionals but they are usually not very high. The last date of applying to most of the colleges is over now. You may apply for IMT and IMI, Delhi if it reopens its applications.

  99. sir your prediction was 100% right i exactly got the same percentile as mentioned by CL true percentile predictor.i am st student and got 78 percentile.
    10th -80.2 %
    12th -72.6%
    graduation till 7th semester 62%
    can i get any call from iims?
    or fms nitie or iit b or iitd?
    and can i start preparing for interviews?

  100. Sir My cat percentile is 81.35 QA- 70.77 VA- 85.7
    10th- 91.29
    12th- 88.33
    Any chance from getting calls from IIM’s. I have also applied in DSE DFS, FMS, NITIE. Which IIT should i apply to based on this score?

  102. hello sir i have got 95.13 in cat
    quant – 99.07
    verbal – 68.73
    category – obc
    can i get a, b, c, i , l ,k calls
    nd i have aplied for fms nd nitie can i get those calls

    • Rohit, calls from IIM-A and B are highly dependent on your academics and profile. IIM-C and L look difficult at this score. Depending on your academics you may get a call from K.

  103. Hi sir,
    got 98.80 but hadn’t expected that and that is why didn’t applied for MDI, NITIE, FMS and SP Jain.(Feeling like an idiot).
    what are the institutes except for some IIMs where i expect the call and apply.

    Plzz reply

    • Prateek, congratulations for a good performance in CAT. Your best bet is to ensure conversion of IIM calls. Unfortunately you can only apply to TAPMI and MICA and TAPMI is below your level. Focus on your preparation for interview, the target now has to be to convert all the calls that you receive. Start PDP classes immediately to ensure conversion.

  104. VA-
    29 Attempts
    20-21 Correct
    QA-
    27 Attempts
    23-24 Correct

    Can you please tell me the estimated percentile?

    • Vaibhav, please enter your attempt and estimated correct in the True Percentile Predictor at CL Exam Corner to get an idea of your CAT percentile. The B-school Advisory will also give you the list of institutes that you can from where you can get interview calls based on your category.
      However my estimate is that you would be above 99%ile and calls are possible from IIMs, FMS and most of the top MBA institutes.

  105. sir with 92.57 percentile in cat ( 87.53 in quant and 93.2in verbal) general category. X:88.3 AND XII:92.2 GRAD:71.23.Can i expect call from any IIM. Im from pharmacy background.no work exp. Plz reply.

    • sai, as a OBC candidate with around 92%ile in CAT you can get calls from some of the IIMs bases on you academic record.

  106. Dear Sir,
    My Academics –
    X – 77.8
    XII- 64.33
    B.Tech – 68.3
    CAT %ile – 96
    Which colleges should should I expect or consider??
    Does an earlier poor performance of CAT any how effect current call??
    Awaiting your reply.
    Thanks & Regards.
    Bhaskar

    • Bhaskar, you are likely to get calls from the Category B+ institutes mentioned in the blogpost Application Time!. Among the category A institutes calls are likely from New IIMs, XIMB, IRMA, all IITs except Mumbai, UBS, MFC, MBE, IMT(Ghaziabad), IMI and Great Lakes (1 yr prog)

    • Mansi, your CAT application includes all the IIMs but you will need to apply seaprately for the IITs after the CAT results.

  108. Sir,
    I am a fresher with no work ex and my profile is as follows:
    X- 87%
    XII – 92%
    Grad (B.E) – 72% and will be graduating in may this year

    I am expecting around 90-92 percentile in xat 2014,
    I want to retake cat/xat/iift .
    I did not attend any coaching classes in 2013 and didn’t subscribe to any test series.Do you think i should join a coaching institute this year ?
    how should i approach cat 2014 as i did not have anybody to guide me for xat 2014 and did not attempt cat 2013.

  109. Hello Sir,
    X- 89.83% (AP STATE BOARD)
    XII- 95.4% (AP STATE BORARD)
    Engg- 66% (BITS-Pilani)
    Working from Sep, 2013.
    General Category
    CAT-2013
    QA- Attempted 27, expecting 24 correct
    VA- Attempted 24, expecting 15-16 correct
    I know its really hard to get a call from IIM-A and IIM-B, thanks to my poor academics. Can I aim for IIM-C? If not, which other IIM calls I may get?

  110. Dear Sir,
    As per CAT Percentile predictor, i’am scoring the following figures:
    QA+DI=89.44
    VA+LR=75.68
    Total=85.8
    My Past Academic record are as: X- 78.2%; XII-75.0%; Graduation(B.Tech)=65.02; I’am also having a work Experience of 16 Months in Education Industry in Business Development.
    Please Suggest if there are any fair chances of getting calls from IIMs or IITs.
    I would be grateful if you can suggest me some good colleges, which i should apply.
    Awaiting your reply sir.
    Thanks!

    • Niket, Apologise for the delay.
      As a general category candidate with 85%ile you could get calls from the Category B MBA institutes mentioned in the blogpost Application Time! IIMs and IITs are unlikely at this score. You should however apply to TAPMI also.

  111. Hello Sir,
    X-82.93
    XII-77
    Engg-65.5
    24months of job exp
    SC category
    1st estimate qa:83 ver:89-88(overall)
    which IIMs cn i expect?
    please guide

    • shrs, as a SC candidate with 85%ile in CAT, good academic record and 24 month work experience you should be able to get calls from all IIMs, all IITs and FMS. Please start PDP classes immediately so that you are well prepared for the interviews.

  112. Sir, I attempted 25 questions in section 1, and I am expecting to get 22 correct. I attempted 18 in section 2 and I am expecting to get 14 correct. I have 92% in 10th, 94% in 12th, 78.7% in graduation ( up to 7th sem). I have a call from IIFT Delhi and I am expecting from SIBM P and NM Mumbai too.
    I got placed in an investment firm and the compensation they are offering is pretty good( 9 lpa). What would u recommend for me? Shall I go for IIFT and other institutes or try again for an IIM.

    • Dushyant, My estimate is that you are likely to be around 98-99%ile in CAT and given your academic record calls from top IIMs (except IIMC) are possible. Given your job offer, academic track record and performance in the various entrances I am tempted to think that you should be restricting yourself to the top institutes only but I would like to defer the decision till the CAT results are declared. IIFT is a top institute and at present you should focus on just clearing the interview.

  113. My profile-
    X- 89%
    XII- 79%
    B.tech – 73.5%
    Category- General Male
    Work ex – Working since past 4 months.

    Gave CAT 2012 . Got 92%. Will be giving CAT 2014. I know IIM-A & B are out of reach because of my avg acads. Can i still aim for IIM-C ? And %ile wise..what should i aim at ? Waiting for your valuable opinion sir. Thanks.

    • Tushar, with the change in criteria by IIM A and about 16 month experience (by Dec’14) both IIM A and B are also possible for you. Your acads are good.
      A general category candidate requires over 99.5% for IIM C. With your profile IIM A & B should be possible at a score greater than 99%ile.

  114. SIR M GETTING AROUND 88-93 PERCENTILE IN CAT
    M FRRESHER AND ACADA 84,80,69 IN 10 12 B.TECH .PLS DO SUGGEST ME OF WHICH COLLEGE SUD I FILL THE FORM

    • Adarsh, as a general category candidate you can consider applying to the Category B+ and B institutes as suggested in the blogpost Application Time!
      From the Category A institutes you can apply to XIMB (HR), IRMA, MFC, MBE, IMT(Ghaziabad), IMI and Great Lakes Chennai (1 yr prog)

      • Sir , I am sc category student . Class x- 77% , XII- 70% , GRAD 5.5 , HOW MUCH LEAST PERCENTILE IS REQUIRED FOR GETTING CALLS FROM FMS AND IIM C

  115. Sir heard that iim indore gives calls purely on the basis of acads.My acads are x-89.5 x11-87.5 B.Tech (upto 6th sem 84.5).dDoes normalisation of acads have any impact on my selection as i am from A.P board who always gets the short end of the stick.I’m a ST candidate expected percentile 86.5

    • Naresh, you have an excellent academic record and with an expected score of over 85%ile, as a ST candidate you will get calls from all IIMs, FMS and all IITs. Forget normalisation and start PDP classes immediately to ensure that you are well prepared for the interview. Please refer to the blogpost 5 Mantras to master the Interview

  116. sir my cl-projected score is 97%ile,,,,10th 79%,,,12th 71%
    which college i should opt??
    what r my chances to get a call from fms? i need to fill the form.
    sir plzz reply.

    • Shaswat, I was travelling and could not respond earlier. Apologise for the delay.
      With 97%ile in CAT a call from FMS is unlikely for a general category candidate, you can however expect a call from some of the new IIMs, NITIE, MDI, IIT (all except Mumbai), SP Jain, XIMB, MFC and IMT G. Please refer to the Category A institutes mentioned in the blogpost Application Time!

  117. Dear Sir,
    My predicted percentile was around 88-93.
    Acads:
    10th : 86% and Diploma : 84.5%
    Enng.Grad: 64.5%
    No work-ex 🙁
    Had some extra-curricular activities
    Category : NC-OBC
    From which colleges could I expect calls? Is there any chance of that?
    It would be of great help to me.
    Thanks in advance! 😀

    • Nikhil, as a NC-OBC with good acads record and 88-93%ile in CAT, you can expect calls from some of the new IIMs, NITIE, IITs (Mumbai and Delhi only at 92-93%ile), FMS, MFC, MBE and most of the other institutes that have reservation for NC OBC candidates. Start PDP classes immediately to ensure that you are well prepared for the personality assessment stage.

  118. hi Sir,

    My predicted percentile as per CL is in the range of 75% to 85%
    Acads:
    10th : 86% and
    12th: 74.99%
    Eng.Grad: 62.7%
    18 months years exp in IT
    Category : ST
    What are my chances? Could you please suggest me some colleges I can apply to? It would be of great help to me.
    Thanks.

    • Shrikant, good academic record, 18 month work experience, 75-85%ile in CAT and ST category can lead to calls from most of the IIMs, FMS, IITs (except Bombay), NITIE and MFC. Do start PDP classes immediately to ensure that you car well prepared for the interviews.

  119. Sir, I attempted 20 questions in quant and 22 questions verbal when i took c.a.t.on 29th oct.2013.CL PP shows 97.4.Also when i decreased my estimated correct questions in each section by 1, it showed 95.8.I have applied to IMT-G and IMI till now.Missed MFC form unfortunately.Where else should i apply?
    Thank you in advance.

    • Karan, assuming that you are an engineer and a general category candidate you can consider applying to NITIE, XIMB, IIT Delhi, IIT Kgp, Great Lakes (1 yr prog), TAPMI, GIM and BIM. The last 4 are back up options.

  120. Sir

    Does CL’s CAT %ile predictor takes normalization into account? It predicts 95 – 99.44 for me. so in case normalization takes place, the %ile can change significantly.

    My Acads:
    10th: 90.4%
    12th: 89.8%
    Btech: 90.1%

    2.5 years of Work ex in a Core company, NC-OBC and
    no extra curricular activities.

    What is the worst case %ile required for calls into Tier I & Tier II colleges?

    • Vincent, as mentioned in this post, normalisation is unlikely to have a significant impact on the percentile scores. With 95%ile in CAT a NC OBC candidate can expect calls from all institutes that have reservation for your category.

        • Vincent, A NC-OBC candidate needs over 95%ile to get into the top IIMs/FMS/IITs and over 90%ile to get into ythe Tier II colleges. This is for the institutes that have reservation, for others the general category percentiles will apply.

          • Sir, my CAT Score:
            QA: 97.79
            VA:79.59
            OA:94.93

            NC OBC,
            My Acads:
            10th: 90.4%
            12th: 89.8%
            Btech: 90.1%

            2.5 years of Work ex in a Core company.

            from which colleges can i expect calls from?
            waiting for an early reply. pls help.

          • Vincent, as a NC OBC with a good academic record and 95%ile in CAT you can expect calls from most of the IIMs. The only issue to worry about is less than 80%ile in VALR but I am reasonably hopeful of IIM calls.

          • Thank you Sir

            I live in Chennai.
            There are numerous programs for GD PI preparations. Which one should be the best to join considering one and half months for my interview?

            Is it too late to join PDP Planned program of CL?

            will be low marks in VA hinder a call from SJMSOM and other IITs. I did not receive a call from IIM S despite receiving a call from IIMA.

            awaiting your reply..

          • Vincent, you can contact your nearest CL centre to know about the details of the PDP sessions. Try your best to convert the IIM-A call. Low VA shouldn’t be a major hindrance for the calls.

          • Sir, Shortlisted for PGP & PGP-ABM – IIM L. Sir, do I possible have a chance to convert with such low percentile?

          • Dear Vincent,

            Congratulations for the calls. Kindly go for PDP course at any CareerLauncher center close to you. You have covered half way. You will cover the remaining half with our help.

          • Vincent, you have a good chance of conversion. Going forward your performance in interview and WAT will determine conversion.

          • Sir

            i have made a mistake while filling my CAT form. I needed to include all the subjects of my class 10th exam. But I have taken the best 5 which works out to be 90.4.

            If I add all the subjects, i would get around 89.66.

            What can I do now to rectify?? Should I put in the scores of all the subjects now where ever asked? how can i do the same for IIM A and IIM K, where they dont allow to amend the score..

            Any suggestion… the issue has put me into a trauma… Pls pls help

  121. Dear Sir,
    My predicted percentile was around 95-97.
    Acads:
    10th : 95% and 12th: 90.8% (CBSE)
    Enng.Grad: 86.1%
    1.5 years exp in IT
    Category : General
    What are my chances? Could you please suggest me some colleges I can apply to? It would be of great help to me.
    Thanks

    • Divya, apologise for the delay, I was travelling and hence the delay.
      You could get calls from some of the IIMs including IIMB. You can consider applying to the Category A+ and A institutes mentioned in the blogpost Application Time!

      • Thank you for your reply Sir! 🙂
        But, I read that though the minimum percentile requirement for the IIMs are not very high, the actual cut off is over 98-99 (General Category). Is this right?
        Could also tell me which colleges would be possible for 90-95% range?

        • Divya, IIMC typically requires over 99.5%ile and IIMA over 98%ile for a general category candidate. Given your work experience and excellent acads all other IIMs are possible.
          For the 90-95%ile range you can consider XIMB, IIT(Kgp), IIT(M), IIT(R), IIT(K), MFC, MBE, IMT(Ghaziabad), Great Lakes (1 yr prog), BIM, TAPMI and GIM.
          However given your acads profile, work ex and expected CAT score I would suggest restricting yourself to IIMs, XLRI, Jamunalal Bajaj, IIT(B), IIT(D), NITIE, S.P.Jain, MDI and XIMB.

          • Thank you so much for your patient reply, Sir! Very much appreciated! 🙂
            Anxiously hoping that good things will happen. Happy New year!

  122. Sir,

    I gave my cat on 31st October, Evening Slot, Attempted 30 questions overall .Should i apply for fms (General Category)? I am reasonably sure about my accuracy(28/30) .At the Max How much will i get? LR was on the tougher side making me attempt more of RC and EU.

    • Sriram, please enter your attempt and estimated correct in the True Percentile Predictor at CL Exam Corner to get an idea of your CAT percentile. The B-school Advisory will also give you the list of institutes that you can from where you can get interview calls based on your category.
      My estimate is that even with all 30 correct you are unlikely to go beyond 97%ile and hence a call from FMS is unlikely for a general category candidate.

  123. hello sir

    graduation(b.tech- electronics and communication)- 73% (till 6th sem)
    12th- 86%
    10th- 90.8%

    cat expected %tile- >97 (with 46 attempts, 23 each)- General category

    my question is if i have to choose among NITIE , XIMB and DFS , which 1 i should go for ?? considering i have no interest into technical side and the kind of courses Nitie is providing are totally different from what i thought, i mean there Is no field like MARKETING, FINANCE OR HR.
    And the courses NITIE Is providing are
    1) Pgdim
    2)Pgdisem
    3)Pgdm in IT
    I have no idea what all are these ? please throw some light over this , what should i do ?
    thanx in advance 🙂

  124. Sir,

    I have applied for all IIMs, SP Jain, NITIE, FMS, XLRI. I shall apply for IITB,SOM & IITD,DMS.
    Kindly advise me what more colleges should I apply for. Any more suggestions are welcome.

    Bio:
    10 – 85.8%
    12 – 71.4%
    B.Tech – 7.66
    Work Ex – 53 months
    CL PP, CAT 2013 – 96
    Category – SC

    Regards.

    • Tukai, Good academic record, 4+ year work experience, over 95%ile in CAT and SC category will lead to calls from all IIMs, FMS, NITIE nad all IITs. You do not need to apply to any other institute. Start PDP immediately to ensure that you are well prepared for the personality assessment stage.

      • Thank you sir.
        I live in Digboi, Assam and net is the only way i can access your PDP program. Network is erratic in this remote part of the country which serves a big problem. Kindly tell me which PDP program to opt for keeping in view my stated problem.

        Regards.

    • Jay, it is a good institute but in the last couple of years has not been havving good placement. The average package will be in the region of Rs 6.5 lakh.

  129. Hello sir,
    i am doing job as marketing executive trainee in a small scale chemical company since 1 september. My salary as trainee is 7500 only. i have mentioned fresher in all college forms as well as exam forms (CAT,XAT,NMAT,CMAT).

    My profile-
    10th-89.4
    12th-78.4
    b.pharm-70.4
    CAT 13- expecting 92+

    will my salary affect my selection in top mba colleges?
    how should i approach in interview as fresher or employed????? plz reply.

    l

  130. sir i am a male, engineer and general candidate …i have had a good academics in 10 and 12th both 85+…..but in graduation i hv less than 60% somewher 57.84, (no work exp) .final year grad….i am expecting a good percentile in cat …according to clpp 99.24 …for safe lets say 98.5 …..will i not be getting calls from any IIM ….or FMS …..and will it even be difficult fr me to get into mdi…..???? please guide so that if this is to happen i shall start for GMAT ….

    • Shubham, you will get calls from IIMs. While you are likely to miss out on A and B due to low graduation score, the other IIMs should not be a problem.
      Calls from FMS, MDI and if an engineer from NITIE and all IITs. Join PDP and start preparing for the personality assessment stage to ensure that your marks do not become an issue post the interview. You need not worry about GMAT.

  131. Hello Sir,
    I am a CL student have appeared for CAT 13

    CL predictor gives
    QA: 86.3%ile
    VA: 98.0%ile
    Overall: 95.03%
    Category: GEN
    10th: 93.3%
    12th: 86%
    BTech VIT University Vellore : 86.3%
    17 months work experience in FMCG.

    I have also appeared for NMAT in which I scored 197, (scheduled for retake on 14th Dec) and IIFT which I did pretty bad.

    I have applied for IMT, SPJain, XIMB.

    I have all my hopes pinned on XIMB, being an Odisha Domicile.
    Should I apply for XLRI, GIM or any other college ??
    What are my chances ? Please advise.

    • Swabhab, you can expect calls from IMT, SP Jain and XIMB. At 95%ile you should get a call from GIM also and you should apply to it.
      For XLRI, you will need to take XAT for which the application date is over. If you have already applied for XAT then do apply for XLRI also.

  132. sir what about the “SRCC GBO” course any information about the placements and package??? and if it is a PGDM or MBA degree????

  133. sir i just find out that the minimum requirement of iit delhi ….is 60% in graduation or a pointer of 6.75 …..is this information correct …..??? if yes then i will not get calls from iit …or they give calls and we have to perform well in gd pi??coz my percentage is somewhere around 59….and the expected percentiles is >98

    • Deepak, with 59% in graduation you are not eligible for IIT Delhi and hence will not get shortlisted even if you get >98%ile.

  134. Hello Sir,
    As per percentile predictor my % are 99.24 and in worst case around 96%. (Gen)
    X- 76.4
    XII- 73.77
    BE- 72
    Exp- 30 + months
    Please suggest me any institute to apply.

    • Rituraj, calls are possible from IIMs, all IITs (you should consider only Delhi, Bombay and Kgp), FMS, NITIE, MDI and SP Jain.

  135. Dear Sir,
    what should I do to score well in GK section of TISS Mumbai as well as XLRI 2014? Moreover, I need to improve my writing skill because when I start writing something I cant write well. and writing skill is must to clear WAT test for IIMs .
    therefore, kindly guide me the way out to improve both GK and writing skill.

    • Armaan, for TISS GK go through GK Question bank and compendiums in the SIS. This is sufficient for TIIS/XAT.
      We will be conducting a webinar on essay writing immediately after SNAP.

  136. Hi sir,

    10th -76%
    12th – 79%
    Btech – DCE 63%
    Work exp: 21 months
    Expected CAT (CLPP) – 94.6%
    Category – SC
    What are my chances of getting calls from IIMS and which colleges to apply??

    • Salonee, with more than 90%ile, good acads record, 2 year work experience and SC category will lead to call from all IIMs. Join PDP immediately to ensure you are well prepared for the personality assessment stage. You will get calls from all the top institutes – FMS, all IITs, NITIE and MFC also.

  137. Sir,
    I have a gap year after 12th class due to preparation for mbbs. But I was unable to crack it. How this is going to affect me in the interview ? What should I say if I am going to ask the same question in interviews ?

  138. Hello Sir ,
    I’m interested in joining the PDP program.
    Here are my following queries :
    1) Has it already started ?
    2) If yes..then is it too late to join ?
    3) Is it online ?

    • Anshu, please refer to the PDP page for details of PDP. Both variants are available – online and class room. It is not late for you to start.
      It has started in a few cities, please contact your center for date of starting.

  139. HIEE GP ,
    I GAVE MY CAT ON 28TH OCTOBER MORNING SLOT IN WHICH THERE WAS A QUESTION ERROR IN QUANTS , I HAD PREPARED VERY HARD FOR MY CAT BUT COULD ATTEMPT 10 IN QUANT 8 SURE CORRECT AND 19 IN VA 12 CORRECT , COULD YOU PLS TEL ME HOW MUCH CAN I EXPECT AFTER NORMALIZATION , AND WHICH COLLEGES SHOULD I APPLY WIT MY SCORES , I AM ALSO PREP HARD FOR MY XAT

    • Tony, please enter your attempt and estimated correct in the True Percentile Predictor at CL Exam Corner to get an idea of your CAT percentile. The B-school Advisory will also give you the list of institutes that you can from where you can get interview calls based on your category.

  140. sir
    i posted previously about my predicted percentile details which showed around 80 percentile with a score of over 50 (both sections)
    but when today i read your posts dated back to oct
    i found that u r saying for a raw score of 50 one can get 50-60 percentile and you are contradicted there itself with your own clpp
    so im confused as to which one to believe
    m getting little over 80 percentile do i start filling according to the clpp

    or according to ur past post u said 50 raw score 50 percentile
    so do i need to stop applying
    which one to believe
    pls reply me asap
    my attempts 10 in sec i(100 percent accurate) 30 marks
    sec-2 12 attempts(6 qs 100 percent accurate) =18 marks +
    reaming 6 ques (4 might be correct) =12-2=10marks
    overall raw score might vary from 54-58
    im getting a little over 80 percentile in clpp
    and according to ur posts dated back m worrying whether to fill or not

    • Ravi, The percentile predictor works on the basis of some statistical parameters which represent past CAT years trends and another set of indicators of the current CAT trends. Ever since the CAT exam window has concluded thousands of students have submitted fresh data to us. We have thus been able to get a better understanding of CAT 2013. At this point of time, we have a significantly large amount of data which was sufficient reason to revise our estimates. The current estimates are more accurate than the first estimate.
      My suggestion is to fill up the forms based on the revised estimates (80%ile for you) of CL Percentile Predictor.

  141. SIR ALSO I HAVE HEARD FROM MANY PEOPLE SOME NEGATIVE THINGS ABOUT IMT GHAZIABAD….PLEASE THROW SOME LIGHT ON THE GHAZIABAD PLACEMENTS AND PACKAGES SIR. …AND IS IT WORTH GOING TO AS A BACKUP.

    • Deepak, IMT G is a good back up institute and should be considered favourably. Its drawback is its batch size of over 600 and students at the bottom do face placement issues. At this point of time you should apply and the decision to join or not to join should be taken in April’14.

  142. good afternoon sir,i am expecting a percentile >98 as according to career launcher percentile predictor …my tenth marks are 93.6 and twelth 82.2 …but my graduation percentage is not upto the mark ….and less than 60 at the moment in 59 range ….i wanted to know if i stand good chances with the above percentile in ….MDI ,IIT, FMS AND FEW IIMS(PLEASE MENTION IF ANY)….ALSO should i apply to NITIE ….???

    • Deepak, IIM A/B/C are ruled out at this score + graduation marks. Calls other IIMs are possible. You will also get calls from MDI, SP Jain, NITIE and all IITs (except Mumbai). FMS will need at least 98.5%ile.

      • sir i just find out that the minimum requirement of iit delhi ….is 60% in graduation or a pointer of 6.75 …..is this information correct …..??? if yes then i will not get calls from iit …or they give calls and we have to perform well in gd pi??

        • Deepak, this is an eligibility requirement and any student with less than 60% (or CGPA 6.75) in engineering will not be considered.

  143. hello sir,
    X-84.6
    XII- 78.1
    b.tech- 74.18(currently studying in final year)
    true cpp- 94.5 %ile(estimated 7 questions wrong)
    GEN category
    sir should i apply to nitie??

    • Akshay, you should apply to NITIE. Its cut off for PGDIM is around 97%ile but for PGDISEM is much lower and a call from this program will not be a problem.

  145. Sir m getting 50.49 in IIFT according to the keys provided by career launcher.. what are my chances ? and i feel Cl would have got requisite score of quite alot of people to predict the cut off,My chances?

  146. Sir, My NMAT score is 218. QS-85,LS-72 and LR-61. What are my chances of getting a call?

    Also my IIFT score is 50.5(Sectional are all ok).What are my chances here?

    10th class – 92%(CBSE)
    12th-93%(Andhra Board)
    B.Tech-82%(BITS-Pilani)
    Work experience-22 months(Mu-Sigma)

    Thank you!

    • Srinivas, you would most probably get a calls from IIFT but it is a borderline case.
      Your overall LS score is excellent and you will clear the overall and QS cutoff. However, LR at 61 is a borderline case, my suggestion is to go for a retake. You need 65 in LR to be safe.

  147. . I gave cat 2013 and expecting a percentile near about 97 . My academic scores are as follows :- graduation 73% , 12th – 86% ,10th- 90.8%. What i want to know is whether i should apply for the college – “department of financial studies, DU” . Are the placements that good and what is the average package ?

    • Chirag, at 97%ile you should apply to MFC. It is an excellent place for MBA Finance, it has a very good reputation and its average salary will be in the region of Rs 9lakh pa. Hope you have applied to MDI also.

  148. Hello Sir,

    My acads are –
    10th – 90%
    12th – 84%
    BTech – 6.77/10

    CAT PP – 88 %ile
    CATEGORY – SC
    From which colleges (IIMs , IITs, Others ) can I expect the calls and what are the chances of converting the calls with this academic profile.

    • Vishnu, your B.Tech CGPA is a bit low but as a SC candidate at 88%ile and excellent X/XII marks you should get calls from all IIMs, FMS, all IITs and NITIE. Please start PDP immediately to ensure you are well prepared for the interviews.

  149. Sir just got XAT supplement.

    Sir what are the chances of the last year essay questions repeating back in the XAT.?

    Also, can you please mention a few current topics that can be helpful in both WAT and XAT

    Thankyou

  150. sir i am a ST student and i want to knw the cutoff of iit delhi mba .i am expecting 60-70 percentile .is there any chance of getting call from iit delhi or any other government institute?

    • Shivam, as long as you are above 70%ile, as a ST candidate you have a chance of a call from IIT Delhi. Below 70%ile it could be difficult and below 65%ile it is unlikely. You can get calls from the other IITs (except IIT Mumbai and Kgp), MFC, MBE, MIB and MHORD. NITIE also might be possible.

  151. @GP for my 1st query (ctrl+F and search it)
    Yeah true..but try and think from this angle
    LR of 2012 was supposedly of same LOD every day with only 3 sets of arrangements coming each and every slot (CL and PaGaLgUy told this)

    So LR which was of Easy-Moderate level.

    Lets say there are 2 scales :
    A is the normal -90 to 90 scale
    B is the scale from 0 to 225

    Now scale B depends upon the following factors :
    1) Easy question
    2) Medium question
    3) Tough question

    Easy question is the one determined by the fact the ones most people attempted and solved correctly

    Medium ones are determined by moderate attempts or the ones in which people had moderate accuracy

    Tough ones are determined by the lowest number of attempts or least accuracy in a question my the majority

    Easy , Medium , Tough have different weightages (Weighted Average)

    Now :
    VA/LR : 27 marks or 9/9 in LR (which all your faculty attempted in various slots) had LOD Easy-Moderate and all slots had 3 Arrangement LRs (So same level of difficulty and same types of questions)

    so 27 marks of Easy to Moderate slot is scaled to 79-80%le according to the Scale B.

    27 marks of Easy slot in scale B maybe equivalent to 21-24 marks of Medium level slot and that maybe equivalent to 18 marks in a Tough slot.
    Basically 9C in easy level questions ~ 7-8C in medium level ~ 6C in tough level paper

    This year LR had no pattern like 2012..it was randomly allotted sets

    I’m interested to see weather your theory holds true when Different types of LRs are compared to one and another and yet yield the same result of around 80%le (or a different case this year)

    Did you people like last year Attempt LR only in all slots this year too ?

    If yes then ask your CL-Faculty regarding 5th Nov slot LR and any other slot LR.

  152. Hello sir,

    wht can i expect on raw score of 85……….

    i think at least 15/20 in sec 1
    17/23 in sec 2 should be correct……………

    also help me about colleges which i can get at this score……….

    • Jay, please enter your attempt and estimated correct in the True Percentile Predictor at CL Exam Corner to get an idea of your CAT percentile. The B-school Advisory will also give you the list of institutes that you can from where you can get interview calls based on your category.
      However my estimate is that you should be in the 90-95%ile range in CAT.

  153. Hello Sir ,

    I’m getting these percentiles in the new-PP

    QA/DI : 99.96
    VA/LR : 97.09 (18/21)
    OA___: 99.92

    QA/DI : 99.96
    VA/LR : 93.87 (16/21)
    OA___: 99.84

    QA/DI : 99.96
    VA/LR : 86.18 (14/21)
    OA___: 99.64

    Now assuming the 3rd prediction comes true…

    1) What are my chances at the IIMs ?
    2) Which IIMs can call me with a low VA/LR percentile ?
    3) Does FMS,MDI,IITs have sectional cut-offs ?

    Please do respond fast (As im a bit paranoid now)

    • Anshu, In the 14/21 case you could miss out on calls from the top IIMs but form the other IIMs you should still get the calls. YOu X/XII/Graduation marks will also ply a role here.
      Call from FMS, MDI and IITs (all) will happen in all the scenarios since either they do not have sectional cutoff or it is much lower than your estimated percentiles.

  154. Sir,i don’t understand about the CAT,XAT colleges admission process.I googled for good colleges but their registration process closed before the results out.How can i be sure to apply any colleges?.Shall i get good colleges after the results out?

    • Ranjeet, Your application for CAT includes the application for the IIMs but for all other B schools that accept CAT scores you need to apply separately.
      XAT and SNAP applications are also for the test only and you need to apply separately for the institutes. You will have to keep a track of the application closing dates of the colleges. Check the websites of the institutes for the information.
      For most SNAP colleges the application closing date is 14th Dec, details are given on http://www.snaptest.org
      For XAT colleges of the Xavier family (XLRI, XIM B, GIM etc) the last date is 21 Dec or beyond. Please check the websites of the individual institutes.

  155. sir what is the cutoff of MIB & MHROD, Delhi School of Economics, Delhi last year…my CL pp is 85 apprx….nc obc….
    in wrse case apprx 80 in cat….
    suggest some colleges in north india i must apply…specially in NCR…no work ex…

    • Abhinav, as a NC OBC at a score of 85%ile you should get calls from MFC, MBE, MIB and MHORD. Even FMS is possible.
      At 80%ile NFC and MBE are unlikely but MIB & MHORD should happen.

  156. Dear GP Sir,
    With CMAT Sep Rank of 2356,what are the top 30 bschools that I can safely expect to get a call other than kjsomaya,gim??

  157. hello sir,
    i secured 77.6 % in X th,
    72.6 % in XII th
    and completed my graduation that is B.Tech with 68.53 % in 2012.
    I am expecting around 83 percentile in CAT.
    My father works for LIC so i also took up this job as an LIC agent since then.
    I belong to SC category and considering the reservation which govt. institutes shall i apply.?
    and what are my chances in IIM’s and other govt. institutes i.e.(institutes not known to me).

    • Prabhakar, a SC candidate with decent academics and around 83%ile in CAT can expect calls from almost all IIMs, all IITs, FMS, NITIE and all other Govt institutes. You should apply to:
      1. DU courses FMS, MFC and MBE.
      2. IITs (notification expected in Jan’14)
      3. NITIE – both programs.
      Also start PDP immediately to ensure that you are well prepared for the interviews.

      • Hello Sir,
        I have a rather unusual query.
        I am currently in my final year, doing B.Tech from IIT-Delhi.
        I have a CGPA of 5.5 but have 90+ percentages in 10th and 12th.
        Being from SC catagory and having rather pretty decent communication and quantitative skills, is it possible for me to get a call from IIM, having scored 90 percentile in this year’s CAT (that’s what I expect).
        An answer would rather be much appreciated.
        Regards.

        • Sanj, as a SC candidate with an expected score of 90%ile in CAT, 90% in X/XII you are in line for calls from all IIMs (despite your CGPA of 5.5), FMS, all IITs and MFC/MBE. Start PDP immediately to ensure you are well prepared for your interviews.

  158. This may be out of place sir..
    but i am appearing for nmat in dec..
    aiming for nmims mumbai..will you please suggest number of correct answers in each section..??

    • Aastha, NMAT does not have negative marking so you should mark an answer for all questions. To get a call from NM Mumbai FTMBA your minimum score required is: LS 55, LR 65, QS 75, total 210. A score less than this is unlikely to get a call. Obviously the higher you go the more comfortable you would be.

    • Rohit, the cut off for RM in XIMB is around 70%ile. It is a decent program but has not picked up and its average salary is around Rs 6 lakh pa.

        • Ranjeet, Both MBA (2 year) and HR programs are good and should be applied to. RM does not have the same level of placements as the other two but can be applied as a back up. The cutoff for MBA is around 95%ile, HR around 90%ile and RM around 75%ile

  160. Hi GP sir,
    I used the clp and got 81.35%le.
    My academic score are 10th(83),12th(74).Btech(78),with no experience which college should i apply.Also as a civil engineering student should i apply to NICMAR.
    Also i dont want to waste any more year so plz suggest good colleges.
    Plz reply

    • Ashutosh, the B school advisory in Exam Corner will give your the list of colleges from where you have a likelyhood of a call. However my suggestion is to focus on SNAP and XAT since at 80%ile you do not have the option of any good institute.
      NICMAR is acceptable and can be applied.

  161. sir, i got 99.83 percentile in mat but only 25%ile in gk should i apply for JBIMS with this score or should i attempt mat again??I am from non mumbai category.thanks in advance

  162. Hii SIR,

    Can u please tell me..what are the cut offs of all IITs for NC OBC category…also NITIE in order to secure an admission?

    I have been looking for this answer since long tym…still searching…

    • Ajinkya, IIT Mumbai and Delhi would be in the region of 92-93%ile all other IITs around 85%ile and NITIE around 80%ile.

  163. Hi Sir,

    As i have informed you that i am interested in Rural Management could you please tell me how good Wellingkar Rural Management Program is??

    Thank you,
    Sudarshan

  164. Hello sir…
    Sir I am a BBA 2nd yeR student(appeared exams of 3rd sem)
    Sir I am a bit confused listernong to the advises of people regarding fortifying my CV in order to get selected in IIMs.. Advises of attending confrences, paper presentations,conclaves, workshops etc etc…
    So Sir I will b pleased to know from you that exctly what i need to do to have an effectiveCV being an IIM aspirant before CAT 14…
    Acads..
    10th- 93.1% (gold medal)
    12th- 88.2 %(science stream)
    Graduation 85+ till date!!!
    WAITING FOR YOUR VALUABLE REPLY SIR !! 🙂

    • Ujjwal,

      The notifications of following colleges come after the CAT results are declared:
      IIT Mumbai
      IIT Delhi
      IIT Kharagpur
      IIT Kanpur
      IIT Madras
      IIT Roorkee

      And some of the colleges re-open/extend their application windows after the CAT results are declared.
      As per the last year, the following colleges (in the top and middle ranges) re-opened/extended their deadlines after CAT results came out:
      IMT Ghaziabad
      IMI Delhi
      Great lakes Chennai
      KJ Somaiya
      LIBA Chennai
      BIM Trichy

  167. Sir, I got 96 %ile in MAT. How can I get JBIMS? What is the cutoff for it if I apply in general category? And, as a SC candidate, is there any reservation seats in JBIMS? And application forms for it are out or not??

    • Sangarsh, Which categories do you belong to:
      1. General/OBC/SC/ST/PWD
      2. Home University/Outside Home University/Outside Maharashtra State

      • Sangarsh, there are no reservations for OMS candidates, there are only 18 seats and one would typically need 99%ile in the written test to make it to JBIMS.
        This year OMS candidates can apply on the basis of CAT/XAT/CMAT/MAT/ATMA scores and my suggestion is to apply on the basis of MAT since it is the simplest among these papers.

  168. Hello Sir…
    I am a BBA 2nd year student(gave exams of 3rd sem)
    Sir, i am a bit confused of the advises i get from people regarding fortifying my CV for getting into IIMs…advices of attending conferences, conclaves, workshops, paper presentations etc etc.
    I would be pleased to know from you that actually what all I as a MBA aspirant should do now..before CAT 14…in order to create a suitable and impressive CV…
    acads
    10th – 93.1% (gold medal)
    12th – 88.2%
    graduation marks 85+ till now…
    WAITING FOR YOUR VALUABLE REPLY SIR !!! 🙂

    • Shubham, most important for a call from the top IIMs are your marks in X/XII/Graduation and your CAT scores. Everything else is a bonus. On the first you are safe and hence should worry essentially about doing well in CAT.
      You can go for conferences/conclaves etc and all these will be helpful in the interview. Attend them to learn and not to build a CV because if in the interview you cannot show what you have gained from these then it will lead to a negative impression and possibly a rejection.

      • thank you very much sir… 🙂
        Sir but some more things..
        + do these things play a important role in converting the calls from IIMs.. ???
        + are other students (esp. engineering) doing all these ?? is it a trend like ??
        + would two or three suffice ??
        + do i need to go to say IIM-B or IIM-L or other such far off good places for paper presentations ???
        + As doing so would consume good amount of my time.. so is it like NECESSARY ??? without these.. is it not possible ?? would my chances reduce ??
        I am confused a bit sir..!!!!
        Need your help 🙂

        • Shubham, as mentioned earlier, interview calls are primarily based on CAT score and past academic record. Final conversion is a function of these two, work experience and performance in interview/GD/WAT. Paper presentations are helpful but not necessary, doing them for the sake of building your profile over other important activities is not required.

          • okay… thankyou sir..
            if i talk about the competition post CAT…which is indeed tough..
            I would prepare well for GD/WAT.. but what to do about the interview…
            what do the IIM panelist see in interview..??
            is it the CV..hobby..
            ability..extra-curricular activity.. personality..or what else has the student done except academics..??
            what do they see sir… and how can I now start working on it ??

          • Shubham, the most important component of interview is the your knowledge of your subjects followed by your other activities.

  169. Hi Sir,
    Thank you very much for your response..
    But I haven’t seen any info regarding GREAT LAKES GURGAON PGPM ..
    1.)Could you pls throw some light on how good it is as far as placements concerned (for 3 yrs wrk exprncd like me)
    (Going by the profile of students in their website-2013 batch Greal lakes gurgaon–it is very impressive)
    2)What are the prospects of DSE (MIB,MHROD) and its placements,avg salary?

    • Raghu, GL Gurgaon is a new campus and while the data on the website is impressive I am not sure about this campus. Chennai is not a problem.
      DSE MIB/MHORD can possibly be avoided by someone with a 3 year work experience. TAPMI, BIM, MICA, GL Chennai are much better. The average placement is likely to be in the 6-7 lakh pa range.

  170. Sir cclp shows 86.17 for me qa 11/12 va 11/14(nov 7th 3:15 SLOT) .With 62 marks can i expect 86 percentile.my acads 10th-89.5 12th-87.5 btech(upto 6th sem 84.4).ST candidate A.P board .Do i stand a chance of getting calls from A,B,C.

    • Naresh, as a ST candidate with excellent academic track record and over 80%ile in CAT you should get calls from almost all IIMs, all IITs, FMS and NITIE. Start PDP immediately to ensure that you are well prepared for the interview process.

  171. Hi Sir,
    My academic profile is –
    NCOBC Community
    X – 93.5 (TamilNadu)
    XII – 95.5(TamilNadu)
    Grad – BE(AnnaUniversity) – 92.9
    My estimation about CAT
    VALR – Attempts – 29 Probably 25 – 26 correct!
    QADI – I dint check. DI I will get 10 on 10. Rest I really dont know. Some questions I guessed.!!
    So I am very much worried about my QA percentile.
    Should I start my GDPI preparation. Or should I wait for the results? Wat can be my percentile? How should I prepare for the other rounds?

    • Hari, 25 correct out of 29 in VALR will give you over 99.5%ile and if you get 12 net correct in QADI you will not only clear the QADI sectional cutoff but also have a CAT score of over 99%ile hence as a NC-OBC candidate with excellent academic record you are in line for calls from all IIMs, FMS, NITIE and all IITs.
      My suggestion is not to wait for CAT results but start PDP immediately so that you are well prepared for the interviews.
      Please contact CL center for guidance on the same or enroll for Power PDP. Details of PDP are available at http://www.careerlauncher.com/pdp/index.html

  172. Sir, do revert on my earlier post and also do throw some light on the fpm courses in iims and what its about, along with its future prospects?

    regards
    abhijit

    • abhijit, none pending at my end, please repost.
      FPM is PhD and should be considered only if you are interested in academics and/or research.

  173. Sir, cl predictor shows 95-98 percentile, nc-obc
    10th-84,,12th-71,
    btech-60(till 6th sem,currently in last year), fresher.
    what calls can i expect from iim and other b-schools??can i expect any calls from any older iim?
    do i stand a chance for converting an iim call with an average gdpi..
    or should i plan for giving it next year again?

    regards
    abhijit

    • Abhijit, NC-OBC with 95-98%ile in CAT can get calls from all IIMs but you could miss out on IIM A and B due to 60% in B.Tech score. You should get calls from all other IIMs, FMS, all IITs and NITIE.
      Start PDP immediately to ensure conversion of calls, we should worry about retake only after the final results.

      • Sir,plz do throw some light on the ABM courses in iim and what its about, along with its future prospects?

        regards
        abhijit

        • Abhijit, ABM is MBA with specialisation in Agri business + related areas. Most of the subjects are the same as one studies in PGP. This program has a preference for students with graduation in Agriculture or related areas. The industry does not really differentiate between graduates of PGP and ABM but the food/agriculture related industries have a bias towards ABM graduates because of their better understanding. Check the IIM A and L websirtes for details.

  174. Hi Sir,
    1)I am getting 88-91 %le accrdng to CPP ..My academics are as follows X-88.2 XII-90.2 B.tech-71.7 Work exp-3 Yrs..could you please let me know what are the bschools that I can expect??
    2)I got 2356 Rank in CMAT Sep 2013 with a score of 220,(arnd 96.5 percentile) what are the bschools that I can expect with this score??
    3)Is Great lakes gurgaon PGPM a worthy option for me with the above cmat score??
    4)How many marks we usually need to score to get 95+ percentile in XAT taking XAT 2013 as reference???

    Kindly respond to my queries..Thank you..

    • Raghu, at 90%ile in CAT (or 96.5%ile in CMAT) with 3 year work experience you can consider TAPMI, BIM Trichy and Great Lakes Cjhennai 1 year PGPM. However do check the B school Advisory in CL Exam Corner for guidance on institutes.
      GIM and KJ Somaiya can also be applied to based on your CMAT score.
      For 95%ile in XAT based on last year paper one needs to score around 30 marks.

  175. Sir,
    Percentile predictor estimated percentile best case 97+ worst case 95+( Mock based percentiles 94-97)
    10th-91.5
    12th-97.5
    B.tech-67.3
    Work-ex-28 months still counting
    I am belongs NC-OBC
    what are the colleges should I apply accordingly? ( IMT, NITIE, FMS filled)

    • Upendar, your B.Tech score is low else you could have got calls from all IIMs. Even then as a NC OBC candidate with expected CAT score of 95-98%ile and 28 month work experience I am sure that you will get calls from most of the IIMs, FMS, NITIE and all IITs. You can restrict yourself to these institutes but if interested in fincance then do apply to MFC.

  177. Greetings Sir,
    My projected percentile as per CL PP (mock based) is 99.05 (Best Percentile) and 97.46 (most likely). After CAT the real PP model predicts 99.8 for estimate 1 and 97.97 for estimate 2. I wanted to know how much correlation you have observed in percentile prediction by mock scores and cat attempt scores. What do you think my percentile can be in CAT 2013 based on above predictions?

    • Vaibhav, the Mock based percentile predictor was tested on the data of CAT’12 students and reported a very high co-relation with their actual CAT score. This is the first year of the attempt based percentile predictor and we will be able to test its co-relation in January. However I am reasonably sure that this too will be accurate.

  179. hello sir,
    X-84.6
    XII- 78.1
    b.tech- 74.18(currently studying in final year)
    true cpp- 94.5 %ile(estimated 7 questions wrong)
    GEN category
    is there any iim or iit call expected??
    should i apply to XIMB, FMS??
    also which other colleges should i apply.
    i have already applied for IMT, MDI, S.P. jain.

    • Akshay, you should apply to XIMB, its cut off for MBA would be around 94-95%ile and for MHRM would be arond 90%ile.
      FMS DU would require over 98%ile and is unlikely for you.
      IIT Mumbai and Delhi are ruled out but calls from the other IITs are possible.
      Additionally you can apply to MICA, TAPMI and BIM Trichy.

  180. Hi Sir,
    Sorry Sir I Have been posting the same question for 3rd time hoping i will get reply this time.

    Could you please tell me how good EDI gandhinagar is for PGDM in Business entrepreneurship heard that it’s one among the best college for entrepreneurship program.

    Thanks,
    Sudarshan

    • Sudarshan, apologise for the delay, the initial feedback that I have received about EDI is good but I am waiting for more inputs on its programs. I have not been able to talk to any ex-student as yet. Should be able to respond in a few days.

  181. For getting into jbims, which exams should i give. do i have to apply somewhere else like i have visited its website but it does not provide any details regarding admissions.

    • Manish, if your are from Maharashtra – HU or OHU category then you have to take CET. Outside Maharashtra State (OMS) category students can apply on the basis of CAT/XAT/CMAT/MAT/ATMA. My suggestion for OMS candidates is to take MAT as it is the easiest among all these.

      • Sir, since December MAT registration period is already over, can I apply to JBIMS using February MAT scores? Also, how many OMS candidates does JBIMS take? Is there any normalization done with respect to scores of students across different exams since there is variation in difficulty levels of exams?

  182. Sir,
    as per CLPP I’m getting 99.16 %ile & in the worst case 97 %ile…
    my profile is:
    Xth—- 95.5 %
    XIIth—- 98 %
    Graduation—— 82.2 % (Engineering)
    Work ex—– 9 months.
    sir, which colleges can I expect to get a call from???

    • Sandeep, with good acads track record, you can expect call from all IIMs except IIM C. FMS is possible if you are above 98.5%ile and IIT Mumbai if you are above 99%ile. MDI, NITIE, IIT D and all other institutes are on.

  183. Sir,
    My b school advisory showed me imt ghaziabad as one of the options but on the website its written thatlast date for filling the form is 15 october. Is that really true ????

  184. Hi Sir,

    CL PP is showing 95.3 in estimate1 and 92.5 in etimate 2 for me. I belongs to NC-OBC, My acads are as below
    X:89.00
    XII:
    B.Tech:77.53

    What all calls i can expect. How should i start preparing for GD/PI/WAT?

    Thanks in Advance
    George

    • George, as a NC-OBC with good academic record and CAT score between 93-95%ile, you should get calls from almost all the IIMs, IITs and FMS. Start PDP asap so that you ae well prepared for the interviews.

  185. CLPP:
    Sec-I: 92.6
    Sec-II:91.3
    Total: 91.8
    X th: 72.5
    XII th:79.8
    IETE (Graduation): 60.12
    Work Exp: 42+ (in BSNL as JTO)
    Cat: NC-OBC
    What are my chances?

    VK Potnuri

    • V K Potnuri, as a NC-OBC with 90%ile in CAT and 3.5 year work experience you can expect a few IIM calls. Calls are possible from IITs and NITIE.

      • Sir,
        I pursued IETE( Communication Engg.), which is not a regular degree. Any difference on par with the regular Engg.

        Regards
        VK Potnuri

        • V K Potnuri, i don’t think there is any problem with your qualification. It is considered as equivalent to engineering and hence you can apply to IITs for their MBA program.

  186. sir
    I am not a regular student of CL but accepting around 93% and in worst case 90%,should i fill DSE and DFC….

    • Ujjwal, XLRI is best known for PGDM (BM) and PGDM (HRM). The PGDM (Global MBA) is a new program but can be considered favourably.

  188. Sir,
    My slot was on 7th of November.GEN catagory . i attempted 18 in sec1 and 24 in sec2 with around 80% accuracy . my cpp scores were 96.xx at my best and 92 at the worst. my acads are X-91% XII-94, B.E-70.3%. have a WORK EX of 15 months i have applied for MDI,IMI,IMT, and will be applying ximb shortly . should i apply for MFC ? and any other colleges which i left. kindly advice.:)

  189. Sir,
    what could be good collegse to aim for if one scores around 90 percentile. I meant 90-95 range..?

    My current list is–Listed in descending order of preference.
    IMT Ghaziabad (- point v high fess,Huge batch size)
    XIMB (+ in topmost among b schools ranking of almost all institutes)
    IMI (- High fess , + good reviews from many f my frnds who are in B Schools. dnt knw y they reate it higher than all in this list though :P)
    KJ Somya (+ less fess).keeping as last option
    MBE/MFC — Not sure abt these two. need ur comments.
    Please add if i missed anything.Thanks

    • Gautam, if your expected CAT score is in the range of 90-95%ile then you should apply to the Category A+ and a few Category B institutes as suggested in the blogpost Application Time!
      XIMB, IMI, IMTG are okay but you will need over 95%ile for XIMB MBA, the HRM cut off will be around 90%ile.
      MFC and MBE are good institutes and should be applied to if you are keen on specialising in finance.
      KJ Somaiya is good and should be applied to.
      Focus on XAT as some of these institutes accept XAT scores as well.

  190. Hi sir,
    A/c to true cat predictor I am getting 99.21. qa 23a 20c , va 27a 19c
    10th – 94.4%
    12th – 85.4%
    wrote iift . 51.33 score ..
    right now in 4th year engineering. what are my chances and next is xat. how to prepare for it sir

  191. Sir, SC category and
    My scores are as follows:
    10th: 68
    12th : 75
    Btech:55
    work ex: 0
    And according to CL PP: 85 percentile.
    What can I expect sir?

  192. Sir,
    my slot was on 7th nov and in sec1 in attempted around 18 and in sec 2 i attempted 25 questions with around 80% accuracy any my cpp was 96% and 94% i belong to GEN category and with good acads … can u kindly suggest for which colleges should i apply.

    • Sharanya, please check the B-school Advisory in CL Exam Corner for list of institutes from where you can get interview calls. You can however consider applying to category A and B+ institutes mentioned in the blogpost Application Time!
      MDI and NITIE can also be applied to since their cutoff is around 97%ile and you could make it to the shortlist if your accuracy is better than your estimate.

  193. Hi Sir,

    CaT PP 85+

    10th–85
    +2—-96
    Grad–67.4
    Work ex–3 years

    Could you please suggest me some B schools that i should consider.. I am interested in Rural/Entrepreneurship Programs.

    Thanks,
    Sudarshan

    • Sudarshan, a general category candidate does not really have too many options below a 90%ile in CAT. You can consider Great Lakes Chennai 1 year program, BIM Trichy and TAPMI. IRMA is among the best Rural Management program and should be applied to.

  194. 86 percntile by CL PP….IN CAT 13…NC OBC
    ACADS ……83 in 10th…64 in 12th….71 in btech….
    2013 batch passout…
    plz suggest sme colleges i shud apply for seperately including snap colleges….!! n backup too….
    m also appearing for iift,snap,tiss,nmat……

    • Abhinav, as a NC OBC candidate with decent acads and 85-90%ile in CAT, on the basis of your CAT score you can apply to NITIE, IITs (all except Bombay & Delhi), MFC and MBE.

      • sir wat abt SNAP COLLEGES…. N PLZZ suggest sme bakup colleges too…like bhu fms…imi delhi…etc……i took cat on 25th oct evening slot…..so bit tnsd….tnx

        • Abhinav, the IITs are your back ups. SNAP does not have OBC reservation. FMS BHU does not have good placement and IMI will not be possible at this score.

  195. Greetings Sir,
    I attempted CAT on 5th nov. morning slot. Couldn’t count section 1 attempts but it was anything b/w 20-24. In section 2 I have this habit of attempting all questions in mocks and I did same in CAT. My PP is 99.8 and 97.97 for estimate 1 and 2 . My acads: X-79% XII-87% and B.Tech -73%. Work exp-36months and counting. NC OBC candidate. I have only filled NITIE and will be filling FMS soon. Other then that I am appearing for IIFT and XAT. My current ctc is 10lpa+ so i guess i should not fill other b-schools. Kindly advise ?

    • Vaibhav, it appears that even in the worst case you will be above 95%ile so you are likely get calls from all IIMs, FMS and NITIE. IIT Mumbai is the only other institute that you should apply to.

      • Thanks for your reply sir. I wanted to know which IIMs might prefer 36 months+ work exp.. i mean if any .. or is it a -ve factor ..? Do you think I have any chance from IIMB with this acads?

        • Vaibhav, almost all IIMs will be happy with someone with 3 year work experience. Your acads are good (no excellent) and yes work ex will help in covering the gap.

  196. Hello Sir,

    I’m a GEN category student, the PP shows 97% ( best case scenario) and 94% ( worst case scenario).
    Till now, I haven’t filled up forms for colleges such as the IITs, FMS, NITIE ( being a bit skeptic), although I ve filled up for MDI, IMT, SP Jain and a few other low rung colleges.

    My acads are :
    10th : 91%
    12th : 85%
    Engg : 75%
    Workex : 12months

    Kindly advise what all colleges should I fill up ??

    • Ankit, you should be applying to the institutes in the 94-99%ile range so that you do not miss out of good institutes in case your accuracy is better than what you have estimated. You should apply to XIM B and as a back up to GIM and IMI. If interested in finance then MFC is a must apply.

      • Sir,

        I ve already applied to IMI and XIMB + XLRI.
        I will apply to KJ Somayia and GIM as well.
        But, I’m confused as to whether I should apply to FMS, NITIE and IITs or not.

        Moreover, sir, honestly speaking, my accuracy hasnt been that great in the mocks, so I’m not too sure if it’ll improve in CAT, so m not too hopeful of getting into the 98+ % range.

  197. Hi GP Sir,

    I have,
    10th-79%,
    12th-67%,
    B.Tech-80.1%,
    Category- SC,
    Career Launcher- Chennai
    With about 91%ile what kind of institutes can i expect to get calls from?
    I have applied to all the colleges that you listed in one of your videos for category students and will also be writing TISSNET on 22 December.

    I can make the most of your advice and expertise.
    Please Help.

    • the second Estimate of the percentile predictor shows 85 percentile. I am fairly confident that my percentile should lie between or more than the estimates.
      Thanks in Advance.

    • Vinod, as a SC candidate with good academic record and over 85%ile in CAT you can expect a call from FMS, all IIMs, IITs, NITIE. These and SIBM Pune, SCMHRD and TISS are the only institutes that you should focus on. Start PDP immediately after IIFT so that you are well prepared for the interviews.

      • Thank you Sir, even though your valuable advice has given me a much needed relief.
        I have started the preparation for it already and am eagerly awaiting for the PDP sessions to commence in CL. Currently i am focusing on GK.

        But Sir i also have a little doubt that is, my brother who scored 85 percentile(CAT 2012) with better records in 10th and 12th got calls only from new IIM s , IIM I and IIM K and not form IIM A,B or C. He had no work ex.
        But i on the other hand have 12 months of work-ex. So will that help my cause? IIM C is my dream college. 🙂

        • Vinod, it could have been the sectional cutoffs due to which your brother got fewer calls. IIM C is the difficult one and I would be sure of it only you score over 90%ile but all others should be possible. In case of IIMB work experience will be helpful and for IIMA over 80% in graduation could tip the scales in your favour. Hope you have applied to FMS. Let us not however worry about the institutes, you will get calls so just focus on your interview preparation.

          • Yes Sir, I did apply to FMS. I will work my way through and will stick to your advice.
            Thanks a lot Sir.

  198. sir,
    the predictor shows 97%ile for me…even with a couple of more wrong answers I guess I wud be above 90%ile..
    being OBC I do expect sum calls..
    Because my sems are approaching I am unable to go to CL centre(allahabad)..
    Can u suggest me something that I can do till december last week at home for the 2nd round,,I can devote a couple of hours daily.

    Thank You

    • Vishwaas, a NC-OBC with over 95%ile can expect calls from FMS, all IIMs, all IITs, NITIE and oher institutes that have reservations. At 90%ile+ you can get calls from most of these institutes except FMS, IIM C and IIT Mumbai. Start with PDP immediately after your semester. I will be posting an article on interview preparation next week.

  200. Sir in section 1 I attempted
    10/10 with 100 percent accuracy
    and in sec 2 12 attempts(5 100 percent accurate LR) remaing 7 (3-4 should be definitely correct)
    when I entered the 2 estimates
    im getting a little over 80 in estimate 1
    and over 76 in estimate 2
    can I go ahead n fill the forms with the institutes in that range Im gen categeory luking for decent college having 25months of workex

    • Ravi, at less than 90%ile a general category candidate is unlikely to get a call from any decent B school. Even at 100% accuracy you are likely to be less than 90%ile and hence my suggestion is to forget CAT and shift your focus to SNAP and XAT. The only school I can recommend based on your good academics and 2 year work experience is Great Lakes Chennai 1 year program. It has a good reputation and good placements.

  201. sir i wanted to know the cut off for ximb through cat. My cat percentile predictor is showing 89.5 percentile.should i apply for ximb through cat?

    • Malvika, XIMB typically needs around 95%ile for a call it is unlikely at your estimated CAT score. Suggest you target around 97%ile (over 35 marks) in XAT which will get you calls from all XAT institutes including XLRI and XIMB.

  202. Sir,
    My scores are as follows:
    10th: 81
    12th : 64
    Btech:76
    work ex: 0
    Expecting 95+ %ile in CAT.
    Should I fill Sp Jain?

    • Sahil, SP Jain typically requires work experience and good acads along with good answers for a profile based call, score based calls typically require over 95%ile so you can consider applying to this institute.

      • Thanks for the advice Sir.Though I m getting 96 %ile as a worst case scenario by CL predictor , still If I want to fill some back up colleges then which colleges should I apply?
        P.S I have filled IMI,MDI and NITIE

  203. Sir,I am a CL student
    the percentile predictor has estimated my percentile to be 96..
    class X- 93.6 XII-84.8 btech- 74.3
    CMAT rank-888
    I could not give my best in the Cat paper..my mock prediction was 99 percentile..may be it was stress..
    I had aimed for the IIMs..
    i am also appearing for iift,nmat,tiss,snap,xat
    Please suggest what should i do??
    Appear for CAT again or settle for some institute other than iims..

    • AC, at 96%ile also a general category candidate can get a call from the new IIMs. However as a potential 99%iler, my suggestion will be to focus on IIFT and on XAT (for XLRI) since the industry does not differentiate between the top IIMs and XLRI. Also do take MAT and apply for JBIMS on the basis of MAT score. Right now juist focus on your papers and let us decide on retake or compromise after CAT/XAT results are delared. It is possible that your accuracy might be better than what you have estimated.

    • Akash, you can expect calls from new IIMs and, due to your work experience, also from IIM B. IIT Mumbai and FMS are unlikely and for MDI and NITIE it is a borderline case. Focus on XAT, a similar score in XAT will get you XLRI call.

  205. Sir,

    Thank you for all of your wonderful posts!!!
    My academics aren’t that good (XIIth : 78.2%; Xth: 81.8%;, BE: 67.4%), and my CATs didn’t go as well I hoped. In Quant/DI: 26 attempted, should get around 23-24 correct, and in Verbal: 24 attempted, should get around 19-20 correct.

    Do I have any chance of getting calls from top institutes, like the IIMs, FMS and the like?

    • Varun, please enter your attempt and estimated correct in the True Percentile Predictor at http://www.careerlauncher.com/cat2013 to get an idea of your CAT percentile. The B-school Advisory will also give you the list of institutes from where you can get interview calls based on your category.
      However my estimate is that with 23/26 in QADI and 19/24 in VALR you should be around 99.5%ile and hence have a chance of calls from all IIMs (except A and B due to your BE score), FMS, all IITs, MDI and NITIE.

  207. Sir,
    According to CL predictor RAW score of 54 marks showed 83%ile and a RAW score of 62 marks showed 88%ile, Should i fill up accordingly or is it likely to be updated again ?
    Kindly throw some light upon what all decent college should i fill up ?

    • Prateek, while the PP could be updated again, it is unlikely because the data is fairly consistent now. Given the scores are just an estimate based on the assumed accuracy you could consider applying to institutes upto 92-93%ile.

  208. Hi Sir,

    The percentile predictor shows me 88.3%ile. My profile is Xth – 89.3% , XIIth – 95.3%, B.tech – 81.1%, Work exp – 30 months, Category – NC OBC. What are my chances of old and new IIMs? Will I get more than 88.3%ile?

    Thanks,
    Karikalan

    • Karikalan, as a NC-OBC candidate with an excellent academic record and around 90%ile you have a good chance of calls most of the IIMs except IIMC. Your score is a function of your estimated correct attempts so if your accuracy is better than what have put in then your score would be higher.

    • A K Dang, theoretical the raw score in a section can be from -90 to +90 and the scaled score is from 0 to 225. A (-)ive raw score also gets a (+)ive scaled score, so you cannot just multiply the raw score with 2.5 to get the scaled score.

  210. Hi Sir,
    I wanted to know that whether i should apply for the pgdm program of SP JAIN or not ?
    My academic details are as follows :
    10th: 86.4%
    12th:71%
    Grad : BE civil engg -70 %
    Apart from it i hav a 4 months work exp as on 30th oct 2013.
    Also i am expecting a descent %ile in CAT this year .

    • Udit, if you are expecting 95%ile in CAT then you should definitely apply to SP Jain. Profile based calls are usually at over 85%ile and your answers play an important role in it.

  211. Good Evening Sir,
    Worst case scenario for 26th October, Morning Slot :
    13/15 in section 1
    10/15 in section 2
    What percentile should i expect with such attempts according to the new analysed CL predictor? And what all decent colleges should i fill up accordingly?

  212. Hello Sir, I want to clear CMAT with a good score. My English and the logical part is good. But bit weak in Quants.
    I am writing the second test which will be held in Febuary.
    So kindly guide me to get good marks.It will be a great help .

    • Sudhanshu, apologise for missing out on your query.
      Please refer to the blogpost 1 day to CMAT: Last minute tips for guidance on this paper.
      THe QA section in CMAT is primarily Arithmetic and DI and you should focus on these areas only. The MCQs at the end of Fundabooks and Test Gym (level 1 and 2) will provide you with sufficient practice. You cn also consider attempting QA section of past SNAP papers for additional practice.

  213. Added to the previous query; Class X: 84pc (Board first had 90pc) Class Xii: 87pc B.Com: 63pc M.Com 55pc CA : Average of all stages:60.88pc (All cleared in first attempt)….CFA L1 :first attempt Workex: 17m counting…

  214. Sir,
    I had my slot on Oct 31,2013 Evening @Ahmedabad. I am a CA currently working (2nd year of workex) ;also having M.Com and CFA L1. This is my first attempt of CAT.Attempts in QADI were 18-19 (1 question :Am having doubts)…. In VALR ; initially I had marked 23; but later on I unmarked 2-3; so as to focus on accuracy. (I could solve only one LR set.) So final attempts in VALR 20-21; where I think max 3 r wrong.

    Could you estimate my percentile.
    Thanx

  215. Hi Sir,
    i am not able to login via facebook to cat percentile predictor.
    i have done following attemps in each section. 15 in QA/Di and expecting all correct. 18 in sec 2 and 9 lr are correct for sure. E

    So,worst case : 13/15 in 1 sec + 13/18 in sec .
    Best 15/15 in sec 1 and 16/18 in sec 2.
    How much can i expect sir ? What do u advise ? which colleges to go for. 3 yrs wrk ex and decent academics (75-85) in 10th 12th and b tech.

    • Gautam, please try again, it is working. If there is still a problem mail me at gp@careerlauncher.com
      However my is that in QADI your score will be in the range of 90-95%ile and in VALR it can vary from 85-95%ile. You overall score hence should be in the 90-95%ile range. In the best case it would go up to around 97%ile.
      At this score the top IIMs are ruled out (except IIM B due to you work experience). Outside the IIMs you can consider IMT G, IMI, TAPMI, BIM Trichy, Great Lakes Chennai 1 year program, MICA etc.
      Which other exams are you taking?

  216. Hi Sir,

    I got a mail today from CL on the email Id I had used for registering in the CL PP tool, The mail mentioned that my sectional percentiles have been revised and gave two new sectional percentiles.
    The percentiles it mentioned was 30-40% less than what is predicted on the CL PP website !!!!, I was shocked. !!

    However the result on the CL PP website remains unchanged…
    Which is the actual prediction Sir ? , the mail all most gave a heart attack!!.

    Thanks
    Regds,
    Abhijit

  218. Sir, do you have any analysis about 8th Nov, slot-2? Was it an easy or tough slot as per the data available to you? What were the average number of attempts in each section and overall for this slot? Also, it would be good if CL could post an analysis of each slot now that CAT is long over.

    • Prashant, the variation in terms of the number of attempts are not huge across various slots. Will check if this can be shared.

      • Sir, is information related to number of attempts also confidential? In case not, kindly give some idea of avg number of attempts;even if there is not much variation,I am sure there will be some. For example, there are some slots where more people have tended to attempt 25+ in QA/DI section and some others where this isn’t so.

  219. sir,
    i am B.Tech 2013 passout and i am expecting anything above 98% in CAT( my CL proc based percentile is 99% and CAT based is 97%).
    sir i am confused right now , whether i start doing job(but it has a bond for an year) or wait for CAT result
    Second,my target is new iims or mdi but if my percentile comes less than 98% ,you think IMI delhi can be a backup option for me or i should do job and wait for next year CAT
    please help me out

  220. GP Sir, the IIMs have written on the CAT website, that they firstly give the raw scores out of 180. Then they equate the scores according to the level of difficulty of the paper. And they linearly or non-linearly transform those scores on the score of 450. And from my past year experience, I have a feeling that normalization was done both in CAT and NMAT. And they have to, otherwise it is unjustifiable to some of the students who got worse slots (in spite of the so claimed LOFT algorithm advocated by Prometric).

    • Ankit, my apologies for a mistake on my part. I should have mentioned that data from CAT 2012 suggests that post-exam normalisation happens but is minimal. For example, in CAT 2012 a large number of CL faculty members in different slots correctly answered only the 9 LR questions in VALR and their score in this section was in the 79.11-79.99%ile range, so the post exam normalisation (if any) is minimal.
      I missed out mentioning this in the write up above and will correct it.
      I have not studied the NMAT in detail so will not be able to comment on it.

      • Hi Sir,

        You have mentioned that last year by attempting only 9 LR in section 2 feteched percentiles in range of 77.19 – 79.99. Can you please let us know the normalized scores they got out of 225.

        Thanks and Regards
        George.

    • Abhinav, we need to wait till 14th Jan’14 for the answers.
      Please refer to my response to Anshu’s queries (two) in this post itself for more details.
      Use Ctrl+F to search

  222. Hello Sir
    My Slot was 10 Nov, 3.15 PM.
    My estimated correct to total attempted is 9/11 for VA
    and 15/17 for VA(as i did not attempt any RC).
    CL percentile predictor shows overall 88%ile for it.
    Should i fill in forms keeping +10%ile into consideration(or how much variation)?
    Pls reply.
    Thanks for your support.

    • Chirag, Even if you are 11/11 in QADI and 17/17 VALR you are unlikely to go beyond 95%ile, that could hence be your upper limit.

  223. Sir,I have 2+ yes work-ex. I could not do very well in CAT-2013. I could attempt only 16 attempts (expecting all correct) in QA/DI and 20 in VA/LR(expecting most correct). But I am thinking of other alternatives, so is taking GMAT a good idea? Is preparation for CAT sufficient for GMAT? Is any additional preparation required? And is it as tough as CAT?

    • Sambuddha, with 2 year work experience 36 attempts in not bad if you have a high accuracy, please enter your attempt and estimated correct in the True Percentile Predictor at http://www.careerlauncher.com/cat2013 to get an idea of your CAT percentile. The B-school Advisory will also give you the list of institutes from where you can get interview calls based on your category. Do explore the 1 year MBA from Great Lakes Chennai, it is good for people with 2+ years work experience.

      GMAT and CAT are similar but not identical. You will need to focus more on Verbal for GMAT, your QA will by and large be in place. With 2+ years work experience GMAT should be taken wrt ISB Hyderabad and other top B schools outside India.

      • Hi GP,

        I’ve two years of work experience and is thinking of attempting CAT 2014 and has just started preparing now, i ain’t sure whether i will be able to crack it or not but my aim is to be in Great Lakes, Chennai. My Quant is not excellent though English is fine, can you please suggest that in the left period of time what best i can do?

        • If you can also suggest some good colleges providing 1 year MBA course else than Great Lakes and if not than which B school you suggest to aim at if my CAT performance is not par and i think of attempting similar exam for a two year MBA.

          • Dinesh, apologise for missing out on your query. Apart from GL Chennai you can consider the following 1 year MBA programs of the IIMs (A, B, C, L, I, S), XLRI,
            S.P.JAIN Mumbai/Dubai, MDI Gurgaon and IMT Ghaziabad. Most of these will need a GMAT.
            For the 2 year programs that you can consider, please refer to the post Jayein toh jayein kahaan 2014: Which Institute?

        • Dinesh, 3 months are sufficient for you to get a score of 90 to 95%ile and since you are decent in English then I would not rue out a higher score also. While GL Chennai is a very good institute and will need a score of over 90%ile, with a little focussed effort you could do much better. Suggest that you go through the basics of all topics in the next 4 weeks and focus on practicing MCQs. In QA focus on Algebra and Geometry followed by Number System. If you are preparing on your own then consider enrolling for SmartCAT Cracker Comprehensive as it will take care of your requirement of learning (online sessions), practice (Test Gym) and Testing (Test Series).

  224. Sir, but be it the LRDI sets or the quant topics covered in certain slots, difficulty level has not been consistent! Even the analysis of diff slots by various forums and CL faculty as well points out this discrepancy. Prometric is a pvt firm, they are not liable to ans us or to any RTI, regarding their methods of pre or post normalization. Isn’t this unfair for the test takers?

    • Ritika, the best process is obviously the same error-free test for every student, unfortunately even when CAT was a paper based test there were errors in the paper. In the current version of LOFT CAT also we find errors. Also LOFT/Adaptive testing/Multi Layer Adaptive testing or normalisation cannot be the same as the same paper to every student. This is an imperfect world and we have to deal with it.

    • Sreekant, scaled scores convert the sectional raw scores from (-90 to +90) into a score in the 0 to 225 and then the scaled score of the two sections is added to give the total scaled score out of 450.

  226. sir, the people who take cat on initial days, are more confident of their prep. so they take it earlier, and who rnt confident take it some days later. this can be said for their correct attempts also. confident people fill more correct attempts than those who rnt and took cat on later days. so how can it be predicted that the confident are the better performers?

  227. Sir,what do you have to say about students who got more time to attempt the more difficult questions because many questions got leaked in facebook forums (I hope you have heard of that) and so we in the earlier slots will suffer because of cheating. What do you have to say about this?

  228. sir, when can i enroll for pdp?
    cl predictor shows me – 95 percentile, obc, 10th-91,12th-94,
    btech-85, fresher. what calls can i expect? how shall i start my gdpi preparation?

  229. This would be a real shocker for the people who took the exam on 25th October evening slot which is considered to be the most difficult slot this year.I know a person who got 99.8 + last year and could attempt only 40 questions and there are people who attempted more than 50 questions in some slots.God bless those people if this turns out to be true as GP sir is seldomly wrong.

    • Ashish, the November 6 evening slot was also one among the worst. I don’t know whether it will beat the 25th October slot, but it was at par to whatever nightmare you faced. It was just that we were prepared for a tougher paper, as we had got the reviews beforehand from the people who wrote your slot, and some other who got as such slots.

      • Ashish, Anand, Tarun, please refer to my response to the two queries of Anshu in this post itself for more details.
        Use Ctrl F to search.

  230. One more point to be noted :

    CAT is approaching GMAT type paper…so they need to test the level of india by supplying them with different difficulty papers.
    My friend gave GRE recently got 158/170 in VA section while my other friend got 160/170.
    In GRE you can check the number of negatives one made..After checking those we where shocked to see that :
    A : 158/170 had made 17 Wrong out of 40 (23 Correct)
    B : 160/170 had made only 8 Wrong out of 40 (32 Correct)
    The difference is only 2 marks and number of wrong is DOUBLE.

    GRE/GMAT is what CAT strives to become so what can be the inference drawn from A,B….
    It is that A had a tough slot (tough questions answer correctly had more weight)
    B had an easy slot.

    Same thing for CAT…and GRE is an adaptive exam which CAT is becoming soon…so pattern is the same.

    • Anshu, GRE, GMAT and CAT all three of then follow a different approach. GRE is a multi-layer adaptive test, GMAT is a computer adaptive and CAT is LOFT. Though CAT wants to be in sync with GMAT (not GRE), they are yet to become adaptive and hence it is not fair to compare CAT with either GRE or GMAT.

      GRE has 2 sections (of 20 questions each) of Quant and Verbal, the 5th section of 20 questions is an experimental section and could be either Quant or Verbal. The difficulty level of the 2nd section of Quant and Verbal is a function of your performance in the 1st section of that area. So your score is a function of not only the number of errors but also of the section (1st or 2nd of the same area) in which you have had errors. From your GRE example one can infer that one of them had a great 1st section and a poor 2nd one and vice-versa for the other. Incidentally I appeared for the New GRE in 2011 (score 163 and 168) to have a first hand understanding of the paper.

      Similarly in GMAT, if you get many incorrect answers in the first 10 questions of a section in GMAT your score gets into a particular zone. In a nutshell, in these tests the number and location of incorrect answers (10th question, 15th question in GMAT and 1st or 2nd section within QA or VA of GRE) plays an improtant role in determining the score.

  231. Sir but slots like 25th oct where quite difficult (the so called Mock Toppers gave it on that day too )
    There where some repeaters who had score 99.8+ in CAT’12 claimed 25th oct to be the toughest ever and had 41-42 A (while their avg AIMCAT , IMS rank was in top 10-50 )

    One more thing..My VA/LR slot had 4 Hypothetical based tough questions on interviewing the author etc while NONE of the other slots had this..Also my total questions from Main Theme and Direct questions from RCs where 2/10 (I myself have an avg of 99.5+ percentile in all the mocks of CL,TIME,IMS,TF and BYJU) and based on my friends responses they got simple questions and simple RCs
    They had RCs of length 400-600 words on avg while i had 800-1000 word RCs and all 3 of them
    LR was quite tough too (almost none solved that set in our slot based on PaGaLguy reviews where all Toppers are there) while other slots expirenced easier (solvable) LRs

    Normalization will happen across slots and its not a myth that there exists Easy, Medium , Tough Slot.

    • Anshu, We have just analysed the data submitted by many of you and it is our duty to present the analysis as it comes out and not as we want it to come out. I will only go by the data and not on the basis of my subjective assessment. Let us now look at the specific points raised by you:
      None of us have seen a paper from all the slots so the level of difficulty is a estimate based on data from others. Also within a slot each student had a different paper (Prometric uses the term – Test Form) so it would not be proper to comment on the difficulty level of each slot. Normalisation, if any, hence cannot be on a slot basis but will have to be on on a “Test Form” basis. In CAT 2012 a large number of CL faculty members in different slots correctly answered only the 9 LR questions in VALR and their score in this section was in the 79.11-79.99%ile range, so the post exam normalisation (if any) is minimal. I missed out mentioning this in the write up above and will correct it.
      Let us have a look at the attempts data submitted by the students:
      25 Oct Morning Average attempts: Sec 1 15.85, Sec 2 20.05, Total 35.90
      25 Oct Evening Average attempts: Sec 1 15.84, Sec 2 21.70, Total 37.54
      06 Nov Evening Average attempts: Sec 1 16.09, Sec 2 19.36, Total 35.45
      Full CAT Window Average Attempts:Sec 1 16.85, Sec 2 20.99, Total 37.84
      So even in the “difficult slot” the average attempts in each section have gone down by 1 or 2 in the paper overall and this can be attributed to the average profile of the students in each of these slots.

      • Yeah true..but try and think from this angle
        LR was supposedly of same LOD every day with only 3 sets of arrangements coming each and every slot (CL and PaGaLgUy told this)

        So LR which was of Easy-Moderate level.

        Lets say there are 2 scales :
        A is the normal -90 to 90 scale
        B is the scale from 0 to 225

        Now scale B depends upon the following factors :
        1) Easy question
        2) Medium question
        3) Tough question

        Easy question is the one determined by the fact the ones most people attempted and solved correctly

        Medium ones are determined by moderate attempts with decent accuracy

        Tough ones are determined by the lowest number of attempts or least accuracy in a question my the majority

        Easy , Medium , Tough have different weightages (Weighted Average)

        Now :
        VA/LR : 27 marks or 9/9 in LR (which all your faculty attempted in various slots) had LOD Easy-Moderate and all slots had 3 Arrangement LRs (So same level of difficulty and same types of questions)

        so 27 marks of Easy to Moderate slot is scaled to 79-80%le according to the Scale B.

        27 marks of Easy slot in scale B maybe equivalent to 21-24 marks of Medium level slot and that maybe equivalent to 18 marks in a Tough slot.
        Basically 9C in easy level questions ~ 7-8C in medium level ~ 6C in tough level paper

        This year LR had no pattern like 2012..it was randomly allotted sets

        I’m interested to see weather your theory holds true when Different types of LRs are compared to one and another and yet yield the same result of around 80%le (or a different case this year)

        Did you people like last year Attempt LR only in all slots this year too ?

        If yes then ask your CL-Faculty regarding 5th Nov slot LR and any other slot LR.

  232. sir when i entered my attempts in CAT percentile Predictor it shows 77.82 percentile but now it shows 93.47 percentile..
    i don’t know what to believe..?

    • don’t believe in such stupid things, it’s fake.
      it shows 99.67%ile for me, but i doubt whether i’ll cross 99 or not.
      wait for the result to arrive

      • Pranav, each one of us is entitled to our opinion. If you have correctly estimated your correct answers and attempts in CAT then you will get this percentile. Lets wait till 14 Jan’14.
        All the best.

        • my cat percentage around 50_55%. my profiling is x-57% xii-65% and graduation-57% .I belong to pwd candidate .have Any chance to admission .in which college please suggest.

          • Mohd Iqbal, a 50-55%ile in CAT is unlikely to result in calls from IIMs or the other top B schools, most of the institutes will need a scoe of 65-60%ile in CAT.
            However call from a few cannot be ruled out since the cutoff of this category fuctuates a lot.
            Your best bet are the SNAP institues (hope you are taking SNAP). TISS is another good option.
            On the basis of CAT score you should apply to all the DU programs (FMS, MFC, MBE, MIB and MHORD), UBS Chandigarh, IIFM Bhopal and if an Engineer to IITs.

          • Mohd Iqbal, a 50-55%ile in CAT is unlikely to result in calls from IIMs or the other top B schools, most of the institutes will need a score of 65-60%ile in CAT.
            However call from a few cannot be ruled out since the cutoff of this category fuctuates a lot.
            Your best bet are the SNAP institues (hope you are taking SNAP). TISS Mumbai is another good option.
            On the basis of CAT score you should apply to all the DU programs (FMS, MFC, MBE, MIB and MHORD), UBS Chandigarh, IIFM Bhopal and if an Engineer to IITs.

      • @Pranav,
        It is not right to insult anything of this kind as “stupid”-that is being too curt. In that case, you should call even statisticians and forecasters in business world as stupid because they also rely on the DATA AVAILABLE.
        The point is just that everything is not 100% certain based on predictions alone. I do think the percentile predictor of CL works accurately but the problem lies in that fact that many people are not likely to make accurate estimations of their accuracy. This is more so in case of the verbal section, where we are often quite sure of the answers we mark, but then to our amazement, at the end of the paper when solutions are out, discover some of them going wrong.

    • Rachit, The percentile predictor works on the basis of some statistical parameters which represent past CAT years trends and another set of indicators of the current CAT trends. Ever since the CAT exam window has concluded thousands of students have submitted fresh data to us. We have thus been able to get a better understanding of CAT 2013. At this point of time, we have a significantly large amount of data which was sufficient reason to revise our estimates. The current estimates are more accurate than the first estimate.
      My suggestion is to fill up the forms based on the revised estimates and on the basis of Mock based Percentile Predictor.

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